Russia warned Saturday that Poland’s unlawful seizure of its Warsaw embassy school violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and will be met with stern retaliation.
TVP Info reported that police arrived at the Russian embassy school on Kieleckiej Street in Warsaw on Saturday morning.
A Polish foreign ministry spokeswoman told Reuters the embassy school facility was state-owned.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Polish officials had stormed the embassy school 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 an encroachment on Russian diplomatic property in Poland,” the ministry stated.
“Such an insolent step by Warsaw, which goes beyond the framework of civilised inter-state relations, will not remain without a harsh reaction and consequences for the Polish authorities and Polish interests in Russia,” it warned.
Polish foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina told Reuters that Russia had the right to object, but Poland operated legally.
“Our opinion, which has been confirmed by courts, is that this property belongs to the Polish state and was taken by Russia illegally,” he added.
Moscow’s envoy to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, had previously informed Russian official news outlets that the ‘s property embassy school’s property was diplomatic and could not be seized by Polish authorities.
Warsaw’s role in convincing partners to provide Kyiv with heavy armaments has strained relations between the two nations.
The Russian ambassador, Andreyev, announced earlier this week that Polish authorities had taken large sums from the blocked bank accounts of the Russian embassy and trade mission.
Poland expelled 45 accused Russian intelligence agents in March 2022.
