The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is warning Poland that there will be a very strong reaction against the action taken by Warsaw city authorities to seize the building in which the Russian Embassy had its Russian language school.
Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian ministry, warned the response would be “very tough” but did not suggest that Russia was about to break off diplomatic relations with Poland.
According to Zakharova, Polish actions constitute a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention. She accused Poland of breaching international law and constantly indulging in provocations toward Russia.
Earlier on Monday, the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, which supports the war, held a protest outside the Polish Embassy in Moscow and accused Poland of victimizing Russian children.
Over the weekend, Warsaw city authorities, with the full knowledge of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took control of a building in which the Russian Embassy had its school. The Polish authorities argued that the action was carried out because the building had allegedly been illegally occupied for years. The Polish government also issued a demand for payment of the backlog of rent, which amounts to €7 million.
The Russian Embassy in Warsaw confirmed that all staff have left the school building and that it has been given just seven days to remove all equipment from the school. The Russian ambassador, Sergey Andreyev, called the incident an “escalation for spring.” He said the school would reopen in different premises at some time next week and that the children would complete their year’s education.
The Polish government’s spokesman for information security, Stanisław Żaryn, accused the Russians of indulging in aggressive propaganda with regard to the case of the school.
“The Russians have deliberately ignored that the action taken was the result of a court decision ruling that the property was being occupied illegally and the building in question was not ex-territorial and therefore did not enjoy diplomatic status,” stated Żaryn.
He added that it was Russia that had behaved illegally and was now turning the truth on its head in an attempt to attack Poland.
