Visegrad Group in September 2026: the most important developments in security
In September 2026 Poland's security news centred on the Russian threat on its border with Ukraine. On September 14 a Russian drone struck a train near the border, shortly after dignitaries including former CIA director David Petraeus had passed through. Poland scrambled its security chiefs, authorised air defences to intercept aircraft violating its airspace, and found a suspected Russian drone on its Baltic coast. France's foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the strike was meant to intimidate and divide Europeans.
On September 17 Donald Tusk said Polish intelligence indicated Russia was planning drone and missile strikes on Poland and other NATO countries that support Ukraine, to be presented as accidents. Poland shut airports and scrambled fighters, and an air raid siren sounded in eastern Poland. On September 18 Tusk announced that Poland had joined an anti-ballistic missile coalition with Ukraine. A Russian Mi-8 helicopter briefly violated Polish airspace on September 23, and by September 28 Poland had eased rules for pilots to shoot down foreign aircraft. The foreign minister said Russia lacked the forces for a major attack on NATO.
Poland moved toward hosting more US forces: Donald Trump said on September 17 the US was making major progress toward an Army base in Poland, and a minister said Poland aimed to host 15,000 US soldiers. Poland also offered Ukraine a solution for its Patriot shortage. A priest was killed in a knife attack at a Polish abbey on September 24. A US envoy criticised the Czech Republic over defence spending, and Andrej Babiš defended it.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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