KDH: Incident Involving Russian Drones in Poland Unacceptable

Bratislava, 10 September (TASR) – Incidents involving Russian drones violating Polish airspace are beyond the pale, the opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) declared on Wednesday. Due to the serious implications such targeted attacks may have on the development of the conflict, the party is calling for a thorough investigation into the incident. "We are also calling on the prime minister [Robert Fico] and the defence minister to inform the public whether Slovak territory is adequately protected against similar incidents. The statements made by Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) at a press conference did not convince us that this is the case," the party added. KDH also criticised remarks made by Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD), who stated that he "wants to believe that the drones that entered Polish territory were not intended to attack Poland, but were meant to land on Ukrainian soil". It described this statement as unacceptable. On Tuesday night Polish airspace was breached by drones during Russian strikes on Ukraine. Debris from one of the drones damaged the roof of a house in the village of Wyryki in Lublin Voivodeship. Another drone was discovered in the village of Czosnowka in the same region. Prime Minister Fico (Smer-SD) considers the violation of Polish airspace a serious incident with potentially far-reaching consequences. According to Kalinak, discussions about invoking Article Four of NATO are appropriate. Blanar stated that Slovakia regards the drone intrusion as a serious deterioration and escalation of the situation. mf/df