Deputy prime minister and defense minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the operation’s goal was to boost security, protect critical infrastructure and coordinate all state services to prevent diversionary acts and raise the safety of citizens.
“We are activating Operation ‘Horizon’; its purpose is to take actions for security, the protection of critical infrastructure and the cooperation of all state services to counter acts of diversion and raise the level of security of citizens,” he told a joint news conference with Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said up to 10,000 soldiers would be assigned to the mission, describing it as “one of the largest operations”. Together with Kierwiński, he said they were submitting a request to the prime minister, who would then present it to the president.
“The situation requires such engagement,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said, noting that in many European capitals soldiers can already be seen on the streets in non-military roles. “Poland is ready for this. We have the third-largest army,” he added.
The news conference at the prime minister’s chancellery, also attended by the chief of the General Staff, General Wiesław Kukuła, focused on recent acts of diversion on the Warsaw–Lublin railway line.
Kierwiński said Poland was operating in an era of hybrid threats and a “time that cannot be called a time of war, but also cannot be called a time of peace”.
“In the face of these threats, hybrid threats, in the face of what effects our enemy wants to achieve in the social fabric, we must combine the efforts of all state services,” he said.
He pledged that police, soldiers, the Railway Security Guard and all state institutions would cooperate closely. “They will jointly create organizational groupings, if I may put it that way, in the good sense of this word, which are meant to ensure security,” he said.
“Poland is prepared. Poland is ready. Poland will use all the resources it has – in all ministries, in all state agencies – to defend the security of its citizens,” Kierwiński added.
General Kukuła said Operation Horizon would start on Nov. 21 and be carried out by designated forces and assets from all branches of the armed forces, including the cyber operations component.
“The operation will be commanded by the operational commander of the armed forces, General Maciej Klisz, who is proven in this type of actions and operations,” Kukuła said.
He said the main mission would be to support forces subordinate to the interior ministry in securing critical infrastructure, including transport routes, and in preventing sabotage and diversion.
“One of our objectives will be to mobilize citizens to observe their immediate surroundings more carefully than usual and to report situations that may bear the hallmarks of diversionary or sabotage activities to the competent authorities,” he said.
Kukuła said the operation would be built around three main lines of effort. The first is risk management, focusing on identifying facilities and sections most exposed to such threats. The second is prevention, including monitoring facilities and communication lines from the air and ground patrols.
Authorities also plan to support the public and institutions managing critical infrastructure through a dedicated application that will allow citizens to report suspicious situations, he added.
(jh)
Source: PAP, IAR