WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
Poland will close the Russian consulate in Krakow after finding evidence that Moscow was responsible for a major fire that almost completely destroyed the Warsaw shopping mall in 2024, the Polish foreign minister said on Monday.
The already tense relations between Warsaw and Moscow reached a new level with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Poland claims that its role as one of Kiev's most important bulwarks has made it a target for Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, which Moscow denies.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Poland knows "for certain" that Russian secret services were behind the major fire in the capital.
"Due to evidence that Russian special services committed an unacceptable act of sabotage against the shopping mall, I have decided to withdraw my consent for the operation of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow," Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorski wrote on X.
In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Poland was deliberately severing ties with Moscow, the state-run RIA news agency reported.
“Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of its citizens,” the state-run RIA news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. She added that Russia would soon give an “adequate response.”
In October, Poland announced it would close the Russian consulate in Poznan over suspicions of Russian sabotage attempts. Russia responded by closing the Polish consulate in St. Petersburg.
