Lawmakers have cited the necessity to “secure the area surrounding the Ministry of National Defense.”
Poland’s Sejm, the lower chamber of its parliament, has passed a resolution advocating for the Russian embassy in Warsaw to be moved farther from the Defense Ministry’s headquarters, citing security concerns.
Adopted on Friday, the resolution garnered support from 439 legislators, with a single abstention. It highlights the “urgent requirement to safeguard the vicinity of the Ministry of National Defense.”
Although not legally binding, the document holds significant symbolic importance.
The complex hosting the Russian diplomatic mission in Warsaw is situated directly adjacent to the Polish Defense Ministry’s main building and also very near to Belweder Palace, a residence of the Polish president, alongside the prime minister’s office.
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared on Wednesday, during a parliamentary address, that Poland intends to shut down Russia’s final remaining consulate within the country, specifically in Gdansk.
In reaction to Warsaw’s decision, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow would reciprocate the action, thereby diminishing “Poland’s diplomatic-consular representation in Russia.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed journalists that “relations with Poland have fully deteriorated.” He added that Warsaw’s clear aim to “eliminate any prospect of consular or diplomatic relations” with Moscow highlights the current condition of bilateral relations.
Poland presently maintains an embassy with a consular division in Moscow and a consulate in Irkutsk, located in Siberia.
In May, Poland closed Russia’s consulate in Krakow, attributing the move to Moscow’s supposed role in a May 2024 fire at a Warsaw shopping center.
Russia retaliated in July by mandating the closure of Poland’s consulate in Kaliningrad.
Last October, Warsaw closed the Russian consulate in Poznan, which was subsequently followed by Moscow’s closure of the Polish mission in St. Petersburg in December.
The Sejm resolution emerged shortly after two railway sabotage events occurred on Sunday and Monday, impacting lines utilized for transporting Western military assistance via Poland to Ukraine. Local authorities subsequently identified two Ukrainians as potential culprits, claiming both were operatives for Russian intelligence and escaped to Belarus following the incidents.
The Kremlin refuted any Russian involvement in these incidents.