Poland’s Interior Ministry launches TV campaign on emergency preparedness
Poland’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched a television campaign explaining to citizens how to act during emergencies, including natural disasters and security threats. It will feature segments on TVP1 and on the morning programme Pytanie na śniadanie on TVP2, Notes from Poland reports.
Campaign topics
Weekend programmes will cover floods, fires, extreme weather events, power outages, chemical contamination, evacuation, cybersecurity, disinformation and first aid. Experts will explain these topics in more detail on TVP2’s morning show.
According to Nielsen Media, Pytanie na śniadanie had an average audience of 322,000 viewers in August. Presserwis reported that the Interior Ministry will spend 5.4 million zlotys, or around €1.3 million, on broadcasting the campaign during this programme. The agreement with the public broadcaster, concluded on 4 September, covers 16 short segments and seven commentaries.
According to the Interior Ministry, the campaign’s content is based on an official safety guide that authorities sent this year to 17 million households in Poland. Two materials have already been published on the Pytanie na śniadanie website: on actions to take after an evacuation is announced and on the contents of an emergency kit.
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Criticism of threat alerts
The campaign was launched amid opposition criticism of the government’s communication with citizens during emergencies. During massive attacks by the Russian Federation — an aggressor state — on western Ukraine, residents of eastern Poland received alerts from the Government Centre for Security warning of air strikes and urging them to seek shelter.
Beata Mazurek, a representative of the opposition Law and Justice party, said that such messages “spread panic without instructions” on where to find shelter. Interior Ministry spokesperson Karolina Gałecka responded by inviting her to the ministry’s training sessions, where, she said, rules of conduct in dangerous situations and how to prepare an evacuation backpack are explained.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that an intensification of Russian actions can be expected in the coming weeks and months, and did not rule out that the escalation could affect Polish territory. Earlier, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński also warned of a possible increase in Russian sabotage.
