Blanar: Slovakia Considers Drone Incident in Poland to Be Escalation

Bratislava, 10 September (TASR) - Slovakia considers the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones to be a serious deterioration and escalation of the situation, said Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) before a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "We express our absolute solidarity and at the same time we support the consultations that Poland has launched under NATO Article Four," said Blanar, expressing his hope that the incident will be explained. Slovakia's chief diplomat appealed for peace negotiations, which have been launched by US President Donald Trump, and for peace to be established. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine doesn't have a military solution, but a diplomatic one. "I want to believe that the drones that penetrated Polish territory were drones that went there not to attack Poland but were supposed to end up on Ukrainian territory," said the Slovak foreign minister, adding that Slovakia supports Poland using all options to assess the situation. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) wants to wait for comprehensive information in this regard. He pointed out that in the past there was information about a Russian missile hitting Polish territory, but later the Poles admitted that it was a Ukrainian missile. "I condemn any acts of aggression, and it doesn't matter which country carries out such an act, whether it is Russia or anyone else," said Sutaj Estok, expressing his hope that peace will come to Europe as soon as possible and that acts of provocation won't be committed. On Wednesday night, Polish airspace was violated during Russian drone strikes on Ukraine. Fragments of one of the drones damaged the roof of a house in the village of Wyryki in Lublin voivodeship. Another drone was found in the village of Czosnowka in the same region. The shooting down of Russian drones over Poland is the first such incident on the territory of a NATO-member state, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. All security procedures in Poland were working properly, he said. am/df