“All Russian diplomats who were ordered to leave Poland have already left the territory of the Republic of Poland. This information was provided by the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev,” said the spokesman of the Ministry of Diplomacy, Łukasz Jasina, on Monday. The spokesman added that he was waiting for information from the Polish embassy in Moscow regarding the possible expulsion of Polish diplomats from Russia as part of Russian retaliation.

The Internal Security Agency (ABW) requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expel 45 people from the diplomatic staff of the Russian Embassy who conducted intelligence activities in Poland under the so-called diplomatic cover.

“The reason for this decision was that the employees of the Russian mission conducted activities inconsistent with Polish law and violating the standards of the Vienna Convention” emphasized the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Jasina said on Wednesday that Russia has been waging a barbaric war against Ukraine for over 3 weeks, and Poland and other Western countries are treated by Russia as key enemies.

“Further tolerance of this type of illegal activity by Russian service would create a general threat to the security of Poland, but also to our allies in NATO and the European Union, with whom we coordinate all activities”, emphasized the spokesman.

According to Jasina, the illegal activities of these diplomats could also pose a threat to Ukrainians who left their country and found protection in Poland.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Russia is Poland’s neighbor and that it will not disappear from the map of Europe, but the aggression towards Ukraine proves that it is an unfriendly or even hostile state to Poland. Jasina said that the current state of Polish-Russian relations does not justify the need to keep such a large number of diplomatic personnel in Poland, in Russian diplomatic missions.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński