He said that in this type of warfare, even low-cost tools such as weather balloons, inscribed with just a few words in Cyrillic, can have a significant impact on society.
Such balloons have been spotted crossing into Poland from Russia's ally Belarus, raising suspicions about their intent.
Tomczyk suggested that these balloons were likely being used for purposes other than meteorology.
He explained that such seemingly innocuous devices are part of a broader strategy to sow discord and distrust among the populace toward their own government and security services.
The ultimate aim, according to Tomczyk, is to destabilize society by fueling divisions and spreading misinformation, a tactic heavily employed by Russia as it spreads its propaganda and manipulation through Europe and further afield.
Tomczyk was speaking at Campus Polska, a public event in the northeastern city of Olsztyn on Monday, which also featured Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and Gen. (Ret.) Mieczysław Cieniuch, who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces from 2010 to 2013.
Discussions revolved around the interconnectedness of refugee crises and hybrid threats such as those posed by weather balloons.
Cieniuch, who was Poland's ambassador to Turkey from 2013 to 2016, said that modern conflicts often escalate from media, financial and diplomatic manipulations before turning to military engagements.
He highlighted the difficulty in distinguishing between accidental incidents and orchestrated hybrid threats.
The panelists agreed on the importance of building resilience through education and the propagation of factual information.
Tomczyk revealed that Poland experiences about 5,000 cyber-attacks annually. These are continuously countered by some 2,500 dedicated military personnel, he said.
Trzaskowski, who is deputy leader of the Civic Platform (PO) party, the main party in Poland's ruling coalition, discussed the critical need for preparedness in Warsaw through the "Warsaw Protects" initiative, aiming to safeguard critical infrastructure and enhance backup systems across the city.
He also stressed the need for a unified voice in discussions about national security and defense expenditures, especially in communications with allies, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The discussion also touched on NATO and EU definitions of cyber-attacks, with Trzaskowski expressing concern over the increasingly blurred lines defining such incidents, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence, and the ongoing role of social media where unverified information can spread unchecked easily and quickly.
He argued that as threats become harder to identify, responses become more challenging.
The panelists stressed the critical nature of maintaining and demonstrating resilience against external influences, a stance deemed essential for both Poland’s security but and its capacity to manage migration and assist refugees effectively, state news agency PAP reported.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP
