PS and SaS Lambast Gov't Over Stance on Russian Missile in Poland (2)

Bratislava, 30 July (TASR) - Opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) have criticised the Slovak government's response after a Russian missile landed in Poland on Thursday. SaS said the incident was further evidence that the pro-Russian stance of Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) government was directly undermining Slovakia's security. PS argued that the government should summon the Russian ambassador. SaS also said that any later condemnation of the incident by the government would not change the substance of the matter. "A Russian missile has landed on NATO territory, in our neighbouring country, and the Slovak government remains silent. Robert Fico has spent years claiming that Russia is not a threat and that this war does not concern us. The crater in a Polish field tells a different story. Slovakia needs a government that is prepared to identify the aggressor and take our country's security seriously," said SaS chair Branislav Groehling. According to MP Tomas Valasek (PS), Russia was acting with reckless disregard. "Any normal government would summon the Russian ambassador and demand that Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately bring this terrible war to an end. The 'creative minds' in the Slovak government are probably already looking for a way to blame the whole thing on Kiev," Valasek added. "Slovak diplomacy is in touch with our partners within NATO. We have consistently emphasised that the war in Ukraine has no military solution and brings only loss of life and destruction. We consistently and on principle condemn any attacks on civilian infrastructure or civilians, as well as violations of the airspace of other states that occur during wartime operations. I appreciate the measured approach taken by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who confirmed that the latest airspace violation involving Poland must be thoroughly investigated. It is essential to wait for the outcome of the investigation before hot-headed politicians continue their war of words, while people continue to die because of the lack of diplomacy on both sides. The Slovak opposition should also understand that peace is achieved not through exchanges of fire — whether verbal or with missiles — but only through dialogue and peace negotiations," Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) told TASR. The Polish Armed Forces, representing an EU and NATO member state, announced on X on Thursday that, as a precautionary measure to protect the country's airspace, they had scrambled fighter jets and an airborne early warning aircraft. Air defence and radar systems were also placed on alert. The military later reported that an unidentified object had crashed near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in the eastern Lubelskie province. Local residents reported hearing an explosion. Speaking at a meeting of the coordination team in Lublin, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that preliminary findings indicated the object was a Russian Kh-101 missile. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraph 7 mf