Poland has ordered the closure of its Russian consulate in Poznan, citing Moscow’s alleged “sabotage” attempts within the country, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Tuesday, reports citing The Moscow Times.
“I have information that Russia is behind sabotage attempts in Poland and allied countries. I have therefore decided to withdraw my permission for the Russian consulate to operate in Poznan,” Sikorski told reporters.
Russian staff at the consular mission will be recognized as “undesirable,” Poland’s state news agency PAP quoted him as saying.
Sikorski cited a court case in the western Polish city of Wroclaw, where a Ukrainian man reportedly confessed to cooperating with Russian intelligence to commit arson attacks at strategic sites, as evidence of Russian sabotage over Poland’s support for Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised a “painful response” to Warsaw’s “unfriendly step.”
Poland, together with the four other EU member countries in the Baltics, has accused Russia of orchestrating hybrid attacks including “intimidation, the instrumentalization of migrants, sabotage, disinformation, foreign information manipulation and interference.”