On 20 January, Poland’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of Belarus in Poland to provide explanations regarding the incursion of weather balloons carrying contraband into Poland over the past weekend.
“We question the claim that the Belarusian side has no information about or influence over such a large number of similar actions,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewiór told PAP, WP reported.
Earlier, Poland’s National Security Bureau said that on the night of 17 January several dozen unidentified objects entered Poland from Belarus. Polish authorities do not rule out that the incident may have had the character of a provocation disguised as smuggling activity.
According to Onet, about 150 weather balloons carrying cigarettes entered Poland that night. Sources close to the Polish Interior Ministry and the military told the outlet that the Belarusian side may have used balloons equipped with modern electronic devices and GPS trackers to test at what altitude and distance Polish systems are capable of detecting small objects and how they attempt to suppress transmitter signals.