The Polish foreign ministry said in a statement that it had “decided in accordance with the principle of reciprocity to consider the employee of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Poznań [western Poland] as a persona non grata.”
It added the move was “a response to the groundless 5 February 2020 decision by the authorities of the Russian Federation to consider a Polish diplomat as a persona non grata.”
Warsaw warned of a deepening “crisis” in ties after Russia on Friday announced the expulsion of diplomats from Poland, Sweden and Germany, accusing them of taking part in illegal protests against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
The foreign ministry in Warsaw responded by summoning the Russian ambassador, and insisted that the Polish diplomat had been performing official duties in keeping with her diplomatic status.
The foreign ministry said at the time that Poland expected the Russian authorities “to reverse this erroneous decision. Otherwise, Poland reserves the option of taking appropriate steps.”
(pk)
Source: PAP/www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy