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Poland says ready to respond appropriately to potential threats from Belarus

Wojciech Skurkiewicz called the situation with helicopters "a provocation aimed at Poland and NATO"

Polish Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz Mateusz Wlodarczyk/ Reuters

Polish Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz

© Mateusz Wlodarczyk/ Reuters

TASS, August 2. Poland is ready to respond appropriately to potential threats from Belarus, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz said.

Commenting on alleged violations of Warsaw’s air space by Belarusian military helicopters, the senior defense official said: "We do realize who our enemy on the eastern border is." "If such situations continue to take place and there is an escalation of tensions, then our actions will retaliate appropriately to the potential threats."

Skurkiewicz called the situation with helicopters "a provocation aimed at Poland and NATO."

The senior defense official also noted that on August 1 Warsaw’s armed forces received instructions to deploy additional units and military helicopters on the eastern border.

On Tuesday, the Polish government said that two Belarusian helicopters had crossed over into Poland’s air space near Bialowieza. After that, the Polish Foreign Ministry summoned the Belarusian interim charge d’affaires in Warsaw. According to the Polish Defense Ministry, Poland duly informed NATO about the incident. Meanwhile in Minsk, the Belarusian Defense Ministry characterized the Polish accusations that Belarusian Air Force Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters and Air Defense Troops had violated the border as "far-fetched." According to Minsk, the charges served merely as another pretext for the Polish leadership to ramp-up the movement of military personnel and equipment to Poland’s border zone with Belarus.

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