Polands Foreign Ministry announced Monday that it will order the closure of Russias consulate in the city of Krakow after Polish authorities accused Russian security services of arranging a shopping mall fire last year.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday accused Russian intelligence services of orchestrating the May 12 fire that burned down the Marywilska shopping center in Warsaw.In light of evidence that Russian intelligence services were behind the wicked act of sabotage at the shopping center on Marywilska Street, I have actually decided to withdraw authorization for the Russian Federations consulate in Krakow to operate, Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorskiwrote on X.The statement came a month after Polish mediareported that authorities had actually decided to extend the Russian consulates rent arrangement despite demonstrations by city residents.Russias Foreign Ministry condemned Polands decision to shutter its Krakow consulate and threatened countermeasures.Warsaw continues to intentionally damage relations, acting against the interests of citizens.
A sufficient reaction to these insufficient steps will follow quickly, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.Relations between Russia and Poland, a NATO member, have dramatically degraded given that Moscow launched its major invasion of Ukraine.Both sides have actually since expelled dozens of diplomats and bought the closures of consulates in Poznan and St.
Petersburg in tit-for-tat moves.Poland is a staunch ally of Kyiv and has been a key transit point for Western arms heading to the embattled country since February 2022.
In 2015, Poland enforced constraints on the motions of Russian diplomats over accusations that Moscow is waging a hybrid war.