Paweł Jabłoński made the statement via social media on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The deputy foreign minister wrote on the X platform: “The people responsible for the illegal actions of Dutch police and other agencies, especially in the city of Alkmaar, must bear the consequences, including criminal responsibility.”
Jabłoński stated that the Polish government “won’t allow our citizens to be discriminated against,” adding that the incident constituted “a breach of the Polish Constitution, a breach of the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and a breach of the European Union Treaty.”
The deputy foreign minister also wrote that Poland expected cooperation from "relevant Dutch agencies," as “establishing the details of this case and punishing those responsible is necessary for good relations between our countries.”
On October 5, following a 1-0 defeat away to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the group stage of the 2023/24 UEFA Conference League, the footballers of Poland’s Legia Warsaw were reportedly prevented from boarding the club bus and leaving the stadium, according to news outlets.
Dutch officials allegedly told them to wait until spectators emptied the venue, the PAP news agency reported.
Amid the tense situation, several Legia officials, including club owner and CEO Dariusz Mioduski, were manhandled by Dutch police officers, video footage showed.
Moments later, Dutch police arrested two Legia players, Josué of Portugal and Radovan Pankov of Serbia, the PAP news agency reported.
On October 7, Poland’s foreign ministry urgently summoned Dutch ambassador Daphne Bergsma to protest at what it said was “systemic action by Dutch officials against Polish citizens,” according to news outlets.
The Dutch envoy “fully agreed on the need to establish the facts of the case” and declared full cooperation, the Polish foreign ministry said at the time.
Also on October 7, Legia said in a statement that "the events that took place after the AZ Alkmaar-Legia Warszawa match should have no place in a civilised world."
The Polish club added that "the AZ Club's security services and the police failed to ensure the safety of Legia's players and staff and its president."
Legia said that “the people who were supposed to take care of security themselves attacked and violated the bodily integrity of many representatives of our club."
On Wednesday, Legia published footage from Alkmaar and said its players and staff had been subjected to “discrimination, xenophobia and aggression” at the hands of Dutch officials.
The Polish club also said it would provide European football’s governing body UEFA with a “full dossier” of the events of October 5, the PAP news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Legia Warsaw
