Czechia records fake campaign about Poland’s alleged annexation of territory
Czechia has recorded a large-scale disinformation campaign spreading false claims that Poland was allegedly preparing to invade and annex a small border area near the towns of Cieszyn and Těšín. As Balkan Insight reports, paid Facebook advertising, AI-generated images, a fake website imitating iRozhlas.cz, and forged accounts of ordinary users and senior officials, including the Czech ambassador to Poland, were used to spread the fakes.
Tools and likely goal
Most observers believe that the campaign was intended to provoke fears of land seizures and property confiscation, as well as inflame historical disputes between the two EU and NATO countries. These disputes are linked to the contested 1958 border treaty between Poland and the then Czechoslovakia.
Czech security expert Bohumil Kartous said the campaign bears signs of a Russia-backed hybrid operation. In his assessment, its purpose may have been to provoke a dispute within the pro-Ukrainian coalition of states. At the same time, officials have not made unequivocal accusations against Moscow: Polish and Czech intelligence services are continuing their investigation.
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Warsaw’s and Prague’s response
Poland reacted quickly: Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski dismissed reports of an allegedly imminent annexation as absurd and orchestrated. Tusk also posted an image of the Polish cartoon dog Reksio and the Czech Mole, calling Poland and Czechia true friends.
In Czechia, the official response was slower. The Czech Foreign Ministry took several days to unequivocally refute the false reports about alleged Polish territorial claims. President Petr Pavel called the campaign a targeted provocation and said that Poland is one of Czechia’s closest and most important partners.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said he had learned about the campaign from the media and criticized the work of the intelligence services. He also blamed the Office for Foreign Relations and Information and the Czech ambassador to Poland, Břetislav Dančák, for the unsuccessful response. Government critics linked the delayed reaction to the abolition of the Stratkom strategic communications unit and cuts to disinformation counteraction specialists.
