The Polish ambassador in Moscow received a note about the withdrawal of permission to operate the Polish consular agency in Smolensk, the office will be liquidated on August 31 this year; is another unkind and incomprehensible act, Poland reserves the right to take appropriate measures, the foreign ministry said.
The State Department responds to the Kremlin’s actions
The Polish Ministry of Diplomacy has announced that on Friday 14 July the Polish Ambassador in Moscow received a diplomatic note from the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the authorization issued on 27 June 2011 for the functioning of the Polish Consular Agency in Smolensk. The agency will be liquidated on August 31, 2023, according to the Foreign Ministry, and its current duties will be carried out directly by the Polish Embassy in Moscow.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “the decision of the authorities of the Russian Federation is a very symbolic gesture, but also another unfriendly and incomprehensible act to prevent the functioning of Polish diplomatic missions and Polish consular posts.”
The Republic of Poland reserves the right to take appropriate measures. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that the consular services of the Republic of Poland will do everything possible to ensure that Polish citizens who want to pay tribute to the murdered and need urgent consular assistance continue to receive all necessary support.
– we read in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry stressed that Smolensk and Katyn, as sites of the murder of nearly 22,000 Polish citizens by the NKVD in 1940 and the Smolensk catastrophe in 2010, have a special, symbolic dimension for all Poles.
The decision of the Russian authorities is a manifestation of increasingly bold attempts to falsify history and deny responsibility for crimes committed by the Russian state and specific citizens of this state known by name
– emphasized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ministry of Diplomacy stated that “today’s crimes in Ukraine are a continuation of this barbaric practice.”
We believe that the time will come when the Russian Federation and its authorities will finally respect historical truth and take into account their own past – only in this way will they cease to pose a threat to the world
– says the statement of the Polish Foreign Ministry.
Tasks of the Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Smolensk
The Ministry noted that the duties of the Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Smolensk include, in particular, the ongoing surveillance of the Smolensk crash site and the Katyn Polish war cemetery; this office provided support to Polish pilgrims who regularly visited cemeteries and memorial sites that were important to the Polish side; also the descendants of the citizens of the Soviet Union killed by the NKVD, who were buried next to Poland, were able to learn the truth about Soviet crimes and better understand the history of their own country thanks to the functioning of the Polish bureau.
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Source: wPolityce