The Polish Foreign Ministry has recommended its citizens to refrain from any trips to Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the fact that the Russian authorities have officially declared Poland an “unfriendly” state.
In an official statement published on the website of the Foreign Ministry on February 16, the Foreign Ministry also advised Polish citizens in Russia to “leave its territory by available commercial and private means, unless personal, family or professional circumstances require them to stay in the country,” Deutsche Welle reported.
The document emphasizes that opportunities to provide consular assistance to Polish citizens in Russia are becoming increasingly limited. This is due to the decisions of the Russian authorities to close the Polish consulates general in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, which led to a reduction in the number of diplomatic and consular staff.
“In case of a sharp deterioration of the security situation, border closures or other unforeseen situations, evacuation may become significantly difficult or even impossible,” the ministry warned.
Poland and the Russian Federation – without consulates
Warsaw and Moscow began mutually closing consular offices starting in the fall of 2024. The last of them – the Russian consulate in Gdansk and the Polish consulate in Irkutsk – were closed late last year. As a result, both countries now have no consulates general, only embassies in their capitals.
The detention in Poland of Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin at the request of Ukraine in connection with his excavations in Crimea after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula by Russia contributed to the sharp deterioration of bilateral relations.
