WARSAW, Apr 26 Poland's prosecutor's office seized money from embassy accounts and the trade mission of Russia, said the head of the diplomatic mission, Sergei Andreev.
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«We received a notification from the prosecutor's office that funds from the accounts of the embassy and the trade mission in Santander bank were transferred to the accounts of the prosecutor's office,» he said.< /p>
Following this, Santander Bank announced that it had ceased cooperation with the embassy and closed accounts, Andreev added. The diplomat clarified that it was about «significant funds», which were both in US dollars and in Polish zlotys.
He assessed the incident as «a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.»
Earlier, the Polish side froze the embassy's accounts, allegedly on suspicion that they could be used for money laundering or terrorism.
This is not the first attack Warsaw on the property of the Russian diplomatic mission.
In November, the Polish authorities seized a recreation center near Warsaw from the embassy, having previously terminated the lease due to «non-payment». At the same time, the diplomatic mission explained that they could not pay the rent, as the republic froze the embassy's accounts.
Last spring, the Polish authorities occupied the building at Sobieski 100, which is in Russian diplomatic property. Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski said he wanted to hand it over to Ukrainian refugees.
Prior to this, the Polish Foreign Ministry also reported that it had applied to government agencies with a submission «to initiate enforcement proceedings against two real estate objects not used for diplomatic and consular purposes, illegally owned by Russia, that is, real estate located at 100 Sobieski St. and 45 Keletskaya St.». In the building at 45 Kieletska Street, there is a school at the Russian Embassy in Poland. The building at Sobieski 100 was previously occupied by Russian diplomats, but now it is not inhabited and needs repair.
At that time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the seizure of Russian diplomatic property in Warsaw a flagrant violation of international law.
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