Russia protests Poland's seizure of embassy building in Warsaw

Polish state news channel TVP Info reported earlier that police were seen outside the Russian Embassy school on Kielecka Street in Warsaw on Saturday morning. Asked about the incident, a Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman said the building housing the embassy school belongs to the Polish state.

Russia protests Poland's occupation of the embassy in Warsaw, photo 1 — Russian embassy school in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: Reuters

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Polish authorities stormed the school grounds with the aim of occupying them.

"We consider this latest hostile act... a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and an encroachment on Russia's diplomatic property in Poland," the ministry said. "This action goes beyond the framework of civilized relations between states and will inevitably entail a harsh reaction and consequences...", the statement added.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on Telegram that it would make a "legal assessment" of the "arrest". Lukasz Jasina, a spokesman for Poland's Foreign Ministry, said Russia had the right to protest but Poland was acting within the law.

Sergei Andreyev, Russia's ambassador to Poland, previously told Russian state news agencies that the embassy school was a diplomatic facility that Polish authorities had no right to seize.

The two countries' already tense relations have further deteriorated following the war in Ukraine, with Warsaw becoming one of Kiev's major allies, playing a leading role in convincing allies to supply heavy weapons to its neighbor.

Mr Andreyev said earlier this week that Polish prosecutors had seized a significant amount of money from frozen bank accounts of the Russian embassy and trade mission.

Hoang Nam (according to Reuters)

Source