The government has closed the Polish consular agency in Smolensk

«To accept the proposal of the Russian Foreign Ministry to close the Consular Agency of the Republic of Poland in Smolensk with a consular district including the territory of the Smolensk region», — reads the order published on the official portal of legal information.

To the Russian Foreign Ministry, the government decided to notify Poland of the withdrawal of the consent of the Russian side to open the relevant agency.

As explained in the government in response to a request from Interfax, the decision to close the embassy is a response to «unfriendly actions of the Government of the Republic of Poland, which are anti-Russian in nature.» In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers pointed to the «illegal seizure of Russian diplomatic real estate» on the territory of Poland, which also led to a decrease in the presence of the Russian Federation in Poland.

«The decree of the Government of the Russian Federation allows to restore the parity of consular institutions of Russia in Poland and Poland — in Russia, » the government noted.