The Russians did not open the door. The consulate in Gdańsk is still in the hands of diplomats

Building at ul. Batory in Gdańsk, which housed the consulate of the Russian Federation until midnight on Tuesday, was not handed over to the Polish side. On Tuesday, attempts were made to take back the building, but no one opened the door to the officials, said the head of the press department of the City Hall in Gdańsk.

The head of the press department of the City Hall in Gdańsk, Izabela Kozicka-Prus, informed PAP on Wednesday that attempts were made to take back the building on Tuesday, but no one opened the door to the officials.

– However, it is clear that someone remained on the property – said Kozicka-Prus and added that in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the attempt to take over the property was to take place on December 23 this year. An official from the Gdańsk city hall also emphasized that all actions are taken in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Building at ul. Batory in Gdańsk, which housed the consulate of the Russian Federation until midnight on Tuesday, is no longer under constant police surveillance after December 23. This is related to the decision of the head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, who ordered the consulate and its employees to leave Poland.

1On November 9, the head of Polish diplomacy announced that he had withdrawn consent to the operation of the Russian consulate in Gdańsk in response to Russian acts of sabotage against railway lines in Poland. According to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until midnight on December 23 this year. the consulate must be closed and its employees must leave Polish territory.

In response to the actions of the Polish side, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski for a conversation on November 27 and informed about the closure of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Irkutsk on December 30.

On Monday, the vice-president of Gdańsk, Emilia Lodzińska, said that the Embassy of the Russian Federation had sent a letter to the Gdańsk city hall, informing that the properties at ul. Stefana Batory 13 and 15 in Gdańsk, where the current Russian consulate is located, “an administrative and technical employee of the embassy will stay.” Therefore, she added, the municipality will not be able to physically take over these properties.

– The Russian side believes that the property belongs to the Russian Federation and therefore requests the use of all necessary measures to ensure the inviolability of the property – said Lodzińska. She added that – according to the Russian side – the buildings at ul. Stefana Batorego 13 and 15 in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz “will continue to be diplomatic properties.”

She emphasized that – according to the entries in the land and mortgage registers – the owner of both properties is the State Treasury. – The Russian side's claims that the real estate belongs to them are wrong and untrue, said the vice-president of Gdańsk.

She announced that the city would take legal steps provided for in the Polish legal system.

Maciej Wewiór, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when asked about this matter by PAP, emphasized that the ministry's role in it de facto ends on Tuesday, because until that day there is consent for the operation of the Russian consulate.. He noted that if after this date – as the Russian side signals to the Gdańsk authorities – a Russian administrative and technical employee stays in the building, it will mean that “we are entering the usual mode of asserting rights to real estate, which the State Treasury has already used many times.” He emphasized that this was a matter for the court to decide.

He recalled that a similar situation occurred, for example, in the case of one of the schools in Warsaw, whose building the Russians did not want to hand over. This case ended with the bailiff taking over the property.

Russian diplomats have occupied the consulate since post-war times. In 1951, the People's Republic of Poland and the Soviet Union signed an agreement on the free use of the building. After the collapse of the USSR, the property became the property of the State Treasury.

Meanwhile, for decades, the Russian side treated the villa at ul. Batory as your property. It did not pay for the use of the building, even though in 2013 the city started charging fees in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The consulate did not settle the amounts due and did not respond to calls.

Gdańsk estimated the arrears for the years 2013–2023 at approximately PLN 5.5 million, and the interest on this amount at another PLN 3 million. The case went to court, which ordered Russia to pay nearly PLN 400,000. PLN for part of the overdue fees. (PAP)

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