POLAND EXPELS 45 RUSSIAN ‘SPIES PRETENDING TO BE DIPLOMATS’: INTERIOR MINISTER

Anti-war protests near Russian embassy in Warsaw, Poland – 2014.

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Wed 23 March 2022:

Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying on Wednesday, according to the country’s interior minister.

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Twitter that “Poland expelled 45 Russian spies pretending to be diplomats,”

Polska wydala 45 rosyjskich szpiegów udających dyplomatów. Z pełną konsekwencją i determinacją rozbijamy agenturę rosyjskich służb specjalnych w naszym kraju.

— Mariusz Kamiński (@Kaminski_M_) March 23, 2022

“With full consistency and determination, we are breaking up the agents of the Russian secret services in our country,” he added.

Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s special services, earlier announced in a statement that the head of the Internal Security Agency has shared with the Foreign Ministry a list of 45 identified individuals, which it called them Russian special services officers and their associates, who were “enjoying a diplomatic status in Poland.”

“As found by the Agency, the activities of those listed in the motion for expulsion serves the objectives of the Russian undertakings designed to undermine the stability of Poland and its allies in the international arena and poses a threat to the interests and security of our country,” the statement said, requesting the country’s Foreign Ministry to take “decisions resulting in the urgent expulsion from our country all the requested persons.”

“One of individuals listed in the motion for expulsion is an officer of the Russian secret services whose activity has been unveiled during an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a Polish national on suspicion of spying on March 17, 2022,” Zaryn said.

Poland, an EU and NATO member, shares a border of about 529 kilometers (around 330 miles) with Ukraine.

Moscow warned

Earlier on Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated during a meeting with students at Moscow’s MGIMO University that Russia has taken note of Poland’s decision to discuss the question of sending military contingents to Ukraine at the upcoming NATO summit.

“I hope they (Poland) understand what they are talking about. This will be the very direct clash of the Russian and NATO armed forces, which everyone not only would like to avoid, but say that it should not take place in principle,” said Lavrov.

Lavrov added that if Poland and the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania — send troops to Ukraine separate from NATO, these countries would face the consequences of directly entering the conflict.

He also claimed that Poland, after entering Ukraine under such a peacekeeping mission, might seek to separate western Ukraine from the rest of the country and remain there permanently.

“Polish representatives are known for their non-standard moves,” added the official, accusing Warsaw of seeking to provoke “big trouble.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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