Russia vows harsh reaction after Poland seizes embassy school

The Kremlin pledged a strong reaction to what it has called an “illegal seizure” of the Russian embassy school in Warsaw, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Police in front of the headquarters of the school operating at the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, April 29. A spokesman said that the takeover is taking place at the request of the Capital City of Warsaw, submitted in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the basis of a court judgment granting the Polish state ownership of the building,

PAP/Albert Zawada

On Saturday, Polish state broadcaster TVP Info reported that police entered the premises of the Russian embassy school on Warsaw’s Kielecka Street. The move provoked an instant response from Russia, with its foreign ministry saying that Polish authorities had invaded the embassy to seize it.

“We regard this latest hostile act by the Polish authorities as a blatant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and as an encroachment on Russian diplomatic property in Poland,” the ministry said.

“Such an insolent step by Warsaw, which goes beyond the framework of civilized inter-state relations, will not remain without a harsh reaction and consequences for the Polish authorities and Polish interests in Russia,” it added.

But Polish foreign ministry spokesman Łukasz Jasina told Reuters that while Russia had a right to protest, the Polish authorities were acting within the law.

“Our opinion, which has been confirmed by the courts, is that this property belongs to the Polish state and was taken by Russia illegally,” Jasina said.

In March 2022, Poland said it was expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Moscow's intelligence services.

In March last year, Warsaw announced that it would be expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Moscow's intelligence services.

(jh)

Source: CNN, Reuters