Yesterday, the German-Swiss portal Onet published an article concerning President Karol Nawrocki’s Christmas Eve meeting with uniformed services at Poland’s eastern border. The outlet suggested a “potential threat to state security,” pointing to photographs released after the visit. However, it “forgot” to note that the day before—on December 23—Prime Minister Donald Tusk, accompanied by his ministers, also appeared at the Polish-Belarusian border. What is more, even the official profiles of the Border Guard posted photos from the prime minister’s visit. In that case, Onet sees no “potential threat”?
On Christmas Eve, President Karol Nawrocki met with soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces and officers of the Border Guard stationed on Poland’s eastern border.
“I could not imagine a more beautiful Christmas Eve than one spent with Polish soldiers and Polish officers. […] We want peace and security. But this cannot be achieved without the daily sacrifice of soldiers and officers. I came to express my great respect,” the President of the Republic of Poland said in Jaryłówka.
Less than a week later, an article about the Polish head of state’s visit to the border appeared on Onet. The portal, however, framed it in an atmosphere of… scandal. “A Huge Blunder by the National Security Bureau and the President’s Chancellery? Military Operation Secrets at the Border Accidentally Revealed,” read the headline.
The article claims, among other things, that photographs published by the President’s Chancellery and the National Security Bureau “sparked outrage among security experts and soldiers serving at the border.” The photos allegedly show “operational maps with troop deployments.” The publication also argued that the released images are “a treasure trove of knowledge for hostile intelligence services.”
According to the portal, in the context of the Christmas Eve meeting involving the Polish president, “instead of talking about the commander-in-chief’s holiday wishes, today people are talking about a potential threat to state security.”
National Security Bureau Statement vs. Onet
Are these claims actually true? Interestingly, Onet itself admitted that the Ministry of National Defence denies these theories, stating that “there was no breach of classified information protection rules, and the President’s Chancellery had the military’s consent to publish the photos from the border.”
The publication by the German-Swiss portal was also addressed by the National Security Bureau, which was attacked in the article’s headline. In its statement, the Bureau said:
“The National Security Bureau fully shares the position expressed by the Ministry of National Defence, which clearly indicates that the photos from the President’s visit to the eastern border of the Republic of Poland do not reveal any sensitive data—especially since they were taken in locations controlled and agreed upon with the military side.”
The Bureau also appealed for “refraining from insinuations about the naivety and lack of professionalism of our soldiers and their commanders.”
“On a daily basis, they are a direct target of hybrid actions carried out by Belarus. As can be seen, it is not only Belarusian services that conduct disinformation activities against Polish soldiers who safeguard our security,” the President’s advisory body stated.
The appeal was reiterated once again, emphasizing the need to refrain from such insinuations and pointing out that Polish soldiers remain under constant pressure from hostile hybrid operations, not limited solely to those conducted by Belarusian services.