“I assume that these balloons—everything that is happening—has its source in Moscow. I don’t believe in any smuggling balloons,” PiS MP Krzysztof Szczucki said on TV Republika, commenting on an organized operation that resulted in around 60 balloons entering Polish airspace. The services claim they were smuggling balloons, although many doubts remain.
The Operational Command of the Armed Forces informed the public about the balloons entering Polish airspace on Christmas Eve night, in an announcement issued on the evening of December 24. According to the police, at 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve they received information from the military that several dozen such objects had entered Poland from the territory of Belarus.
So far, the services have managed to locate seven of the approximately 60 objects that crossed into Poland from Belarus during the night of December 24–25. Radar systems detected and monitored the flight of several dozen objects. In an official statement, the Operational Command of the Armed Forces said they were most likely smuggling balloons—as reported by Niezalezna.pl.
The Government Remains Silent on the Balloons
“Does the government’s silence on this issue come as a surprise?”—this question was asked during Danuta Holecka’s program Gość Dzisiaj on Telewizja Republika.
“We should not have to speculate,” Krzysztof Szczucki replied, pointing out that the government should be providing ongoing information about what actually happened, whereas at the moment there is no such information coming from the authorities.
“If they took their duties seriously, they would communicate with Poles. Unfortunately, this government does not take its responsibilities seriously, even in a matter as grave as security,” Szczucki said.
“I assume that these balloons—everything that is happening—has its source in Moscow. I don’t believe in any smuggling balloons,” the PiS MP added. In his view, those launching such balloons are doing so to test Poland’s security systems and to see how Poland would respond to this type of threat.