MOSCOW: Russia has promised to respond harshly after it accused Poland of illegally seizing its embassy school in Warsaw, which it said was a violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic ties.
According to Polish state-run news channel TVP Info, police showed up outside the Russian embassy school on Kieleckiej Street in Warsaw on Saturday morning.
A Polish foreign ministry spokesperson said the building housing the embassy school belonged to the Polish state. However, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the Polish authorities had barged onto the embassy school’s grounds to seize it.
“We regard this latest hostile action by the Polish authorities as a blatant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic ties and as an encroachment on Russian diplomatic property in Warsaw, Poland,” the ministry said.
“Such an insolent step by Poland, which goes beyond the framework of civilised inter-state ties, will not remain without a harsh reaction and consequences for Poland’s authorities and Polish interests in Russia,” it said.
Polish authorities clarify seizure of Russian school
Polish foreign ministry spokesman, Lukasz Jasina, told Reuters that Poland was acting within the law and that it was Russia’s right to protest. “Our opinion is that this property belonged to the Polish state and was taken by Russia illegally,” he said.
Moscow’s ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, said earlier this week that Polish prosecutors had seized significant amounts of money from the frozen bank accounts of the Russian embassy and trade mission.
The two countries’ already fraught relations have soured further over the war in Ukraine, with Poland positioning itself as one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies and playing a leading role in persuading allies to provide it with heavy weaponry.
In March 2022, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Moscow’s intelligence services.
