Polish PM Tusk vows to press ahead with military modernisation

Warsaw: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged on Thursday to push ahead with a “great modernisation programme” for his country’s military, a day after Russian drones crossed into Poland and forced the NATO alliance to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time.

European officials described Wednesday’s incursion, which occurred during a wave of unrelenting Russian strikes on Ukraine, as a deliberate provocation.

It deepened longstanding fears that the three-year war between Poland’s neighbours could precipitate a wider conflict. US-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to get traction.

The Polish Air Navigation Agency announced Thursday morning that Poland was introducing air traffic restrictions in the eastern part of the country. It said the step was taken at the request of the Polish army for national security reasons, but did not elaborate.

Poland said some of the drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday came from Belarus, where Russian and local troops have begun gathering for war games scheduled to start Friday.