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Andrzej Duda in Kyiv in August
Photo: Andrew Kravchenko/AP
Polish President Andrzej Duda has admitted he fell for a fake call from Russian satirists Vovan and Lexus.
The President's office confirmed on Twitter that during his numerous phone calls with heads of state and government after the rocket hit on the border with Ukraine last week, Duda was also called by someone posing as French President Emmanuel Macron.
"Duda recognized from the way the caller conducted the call that it was possibly a scam and hung up," it said on Twitter.
In the November 15 call, a man with a heavy Russian accent pretended to be President Macron.
“Oh hello Emmanuel.
(...) Thank you for your call.
The situation is very difficult, as you can certainly imagine,” says Duda in it.
The explosion was caused by a rocket "we don't know who shot it down" and that he is waiting for the results of the investigation, the Polish president said.
'Emmanuel, believe me, I'm being extra careful.
I don't blame the Russian(s) (...) I don't want to go to war with Russia,” he added.
Duda said he had already spoken to the NATO Secretary General
In the short conversation, however, it also became explosive: Duda reported that he had already spoken to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and announced that Poland could apply to initiate the procedure under Article 4 of the NATO treaty.
Article 4 provides for consultations between the NATO states if one of them sees the integrity of its territory, political independence or its own security threatened.
It was not possible to check whether this information was already public knowledge at the time the picture was taken.
Duda also said that Poland would not consider invoking Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty, which stipulates that member states come to the aid of one another in the event of an attack on a state.
The Russian duo »Vovan and Lexus«, consisting of Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, claimed responsibility for the fake call.
The satirists had published the recording of the seven-and-a-half-minute conversation on the Rutube video platform.
Kuznetsov and Stolyarov are said to be close to the Russian secret services.
You have already surprised numerous celebrities with fake calls.
kko/AFP/dpa
