The incursion into Poland by two Belarusian choppers was a deliberate move intended to provoke Warsaw, according to a report published Wednesday in Polish media outlet Onet.
Minsk’s taunt prompted Poland to send more troops to its border with Belarus.
At first, Warsaw denied rumors of airspace violations by helicopters on Tuesday, but later explained that the border crossing took place in the area of Białowieża at a very low altitude, which made it difficult for radar systems to detect.
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs then confirmed the airspace violation Tuesday evening and said it had summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Belarusian embassy to “immediately explain the incident,” calling the violation another “element in escalating the tension at the Polish-Belarusian border.”
Mariusz Błaszczak, Poland’s defense minister, said Tuesday he had convened a meeting of the National Security and Defense Affairs Committee to discuss the incident.
As a result of the violation, Poland said it would increase the number of troops patrolling the Poland-Belarus frontier, in addition to allocating more forces and resources to the area. Błaszczak said he also notified NATO about the incident.
“Due to possible further provocations, we call for responsible dissemination and commentary on information that may be used by the Russian and Belarusian regimes,” said Błaszczak.
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said the accusations were “far-fetched” and invented by Poland to justify building up forces by the border.
Tensions have risen between Minsk and Warsaw after a group of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus moved closer to the Polish border last month. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that mercenaries could “try to infiltrate Poland pretending to be illegal immigrants,” and may stage a “hybrid attack.”
