Poland will not open its gates to Russians fleeing possible conscription for the war in Ukraine. This was confirmed on Saturday by Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in an interview with the Polish news agency PAP. When asked whether Poland should make it easier for Russians to evade military service, thereby weakening Russia’s military potential, Rau replied with a clear refusal.
Both from a security policy and moral point of view, it is “extremely inadvisable” to include a larger number of Russians. Other neighboring countries of Russia and its ally Belarus, such as the Baltic States and Finland, also shared Poland’s view that conscientious objection alone is not enough.
Exceptions are not excluded
“We have decided to stop the current issuance of visas to citizens of the Russian Federation and thereby abolish tourist visas,” Rau said. However, he did not rule out exceptions for Russians who were really against the war and who had participated in protests, for example.
Deputy Interior Minister Marcin Wasik made a similar statement on Polish public radio on Friday. It cannot be ruled out that employees of the Russian secret services would sneak in under the guise of fleeing military service.
Source: Krone
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