Tusk’s attack on the government comes as Poland prepares for a general election, due to be held this autumn.
Zbigniew Meissner/PAP

Donald Tusk, the leader of the Civic Coalition, the main rival to the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, has accused the government of failing to react adequately to the violation of Polish airspace by Belarusian helicopters.

The violations, which were reported on Tuesday, occurred over the Białowieża area near the Polish-Belarusian border.

Following the incident, Poland’s defence minister increased the number of troops on the Belarusian border and also deployed more equipment, including combat helicopters.

But Tusk took the government to task, saying: “Today, the problem is not only our neighbour, i.e. the irresponsible dictator (Belarusian Aleksander – PAP) Lukashenko, not only the Wagner fighters, not only the war in Ukraine, but today our problem is also the government that failed to cope with the situation.”

He also claimed that the government’s only response to the violations had been to “brutally attack the opposition, including me”.

Poland, he continued, would be left vulnerable “by people who think that the way to defend Poland is to blame their fellow countrymen for their own inadequacies”.

Tusk’s attack on the government comes as Poland prepares for a general election, due to be held this autumn.