WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish International Minister Radek Sikorski mentioned Monday that he was ordering the closure of Russia’s consulate within the southern metropolis of Krakow after Polish authorities mentioned Russia was answerable for a hearth that destroyed a shopping mall in Warsaw final yr.
The fire broke out Might 12, 2024, within the Marywilska 44 procuring heart that housed some 1,400 retailers and repair factors, a funds market in a warehouse-like construction in a northern district of Warsaw. Most of the distributors had been from Vietnam, and it inflicted tragedy on many in Warsaw’s Vietnamese group.
Sikorski introduced the closure in a press release revealed in Warsaw on Monday morning, precisely one yr after the fireplace.
He additionally addressed the matter throughout a go to to Britain, telling reporters the choice was taken as a result of the Justice Ministry and Safety forces discovered proof that Russia had dedicated arson.
“This was an enormous hearth of a shopping center in Warsaw by which, simply by sheer luck, no one was damage. That is fully unacceptable. So the Russian consulate should depart. … And if these assaults proceed, we’ll take additional motion,” he mentioned.
Sikorski final yr already ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, one among three on the time in Poland, in response to acts of sabotage together with arson assaults that he mentioned had been sponsored by Moscow.
This leaves just one Russian consulate left, in Gdansk.
There are rising issues in Europe over Russian makes an attempt to destabilize the area via covert operations. Russia has denied that it’s doing that.
International locations alongside NATO’s japanese flank, like Poland and the Baltic states, really feel particularly weak. Lithuania in March accused Russia of finishing up an arson assault final yr at an IKEA in Vilnius, the capital. Authorities in these international locations have been cooperating as they see that a few of the alleged perpetrators work throughout borders.
Lithuania’s prosecutor common’s workplace mentioned the suspect within the Vilnius IKEA hearth carried out planning throughout a secret assembly in Warsaw to set hearth to and blow up procuring facilities in Lithuania and Latvia for a financial reward.
Sikorski’s announcement adopted Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying late Sunday that Polish officers “now know for sure that the huge hearth on Marywilska was the results of arson commissioned by Russian providers.”
“The actions had been coordinated by an individual residing in Russia. A few of the perpetrators are already in custody, whereas the remaining have been recognized and are being sought,” Tusk mentioned on X. “We’ll catch all of them!”
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