Poland Pledges Firm Response After Russia Orders Closure of Kaliningrad Consulate
Poland has promised a measured but firm response following Russia’s decision to shut down the Polish Consulate in Kaliningrad.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to TVP Info.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday officially informed Poland’s chargé d’affaires that the consulate will cease operations on August 29. Moscow framed the step as a “reciprocal measure” in response to Poland’s earlier closure of the Russian consulate in Kraków.
However, Polish officials reject this reasoning. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Paweł Wroński said Russia’s decision lacks legitimacy, stressing that the Kraków consulate was closed after Polish authorities uncovered credible evidence linking Russian intelligence services to an arson attack on a Warsaw shopping center in 2024.
“Poland does not take action against the Russian state arbitrarily,” Wroński stated. “Our decisions are based on documented threats to Polish national security.”
He noted that shutting down the Polish consulate in Kaliningrad will have a greater impact on Russian citizens, particularly those seeking Polish visas.
Wroński confirmed that Poland will issue an “adequate response,” though he did not specify its scope or timing.
The diplomatic clash is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat expulsions and consulate closures between Warsaw and Moscow. Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has taken a hardline stance against Russian espionage and hybrid operations on its territory.
Russia, for its part, has accused Warsaw of deliberately sabotaging bilateral relations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed Poland was acting “against the interests of its own citizens” and warned of continued retaliation.
With the Kaliningrad consulate set to close, diplomatic channels between the two states are now increasingly limited to the Russian embassy in Warsaw and a handful of remaining Polish missions in Russia.
As The Gaze reported earlier, on May 12, the Polish authorities have decided to close the Russian Consulate General in Krakow because of the involvement of Russian special services in the arson attack on the Marivilska 44 shopping centre in Warsaw one year ago.