A senior Polish diplomat hit back at Russia on Monday and said Moscow was the “only factor” escalating tensions in the region after Russia accused Warsaw of so-called Russophobia.
Last week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying Poland was working to destroy bilateral ties after 45 Russian diplomats were kicked out of Poland for alleged espionage.
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“The immediate reason for the decision was the activities conducted by the staff of the Russian mission, which are contrary to the Polish law and contravene the norms of the Vienna Convention,” Poland’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jan Bury, said in a statement to Al Arabiya English.
Russia and the West, specifically NATO member states, have clashed in recent weeks after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Nearby countries, including Poland, have been on high alert over fears that violence could spill over.
“Russia has been waging a barbaric war against Ukraine and treating Western countries as its key enemy,” Bury said. “To tolerate further the illegal activity of Russian services would pose a significant threat to Poland’s security and that of our allies in NATO and the EU.”
As for the Russian diplomats kicked out of Poland, Bury said their “illegal activities” could have posed a threat to Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country.
The United Nations has estimated that over two million refugees have arrived in Poland from Ukraine.
Bury also responded to the Russian foreign ministry’s comments about the fate of bilateral ties between Moscow and Warsaw.
“Current state of bilateral relations does not justify the need to maintain such large Russian diplomatic staff in Poland (neither is it reflected in the number of Polish personnel in Russia),” the ambassador said.
“Russia is Poland’s neighbor and will not disappear from the map of Europe. However, the aggression against Ukraine proves beyond any doubt that Russia is not merely an unfriendly but a downright hostile country towards Poland and the whole democratic world,” Bury said.
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