Russians abandon school building for children of Russian diplomats, now returned to Warsaw City Hall
Russian representatives have left a building in Warsaw which had been used since the 1950s as a school for the children of Russian diplomats and which has now been returned to the city hall by court order.
Source: Polish news outlet RMF FM, as reported by European Pravda
Quote from Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw: "We have taken control of another building illegally occupied by the Russian Federation on the basis of a court decision that also obliges Russia to pay 31 million zlotys [approximately US$7.45 million – ed.] for the illegal occupation of the premises at 45 Kielecka Street."
Przejęliśmy kolejny budynek bezprawnie zajmowany dotychczas przez Federację Rosyjską. Komornik właśnie zakończył swoje czynności przy ul. Kieleckiej 45. W trybie pilnym wystąpimy do wojewody mazowieckiego o powierzenie nieruchomości @warszawa. pic.twitter.com/DWMRY3Mjrf
— Rafał Trzaskowski (@trzaskowski_) April 29, 2023
Details: Tomasz Bratek, Vice President of Warsaw, has said that the Polish side had to partially use force to enter the premises – the Russian side refused to open the gate, so a locksmith had to be engaged to enter the courtyard and the premises.
Bratek said that the Russian embassy decided to give them the keys to the premises afterwards, and the parties have agreed on the order in which the Russians would pack up and leave the premises.
The Russian side has claimed that the 27 people who were living in the school left of their own volition.
There are plans to continue to use the building for educational purposes as of the next academic year.
Background:
- On the afternoon of 29 April, it became known that Poland was beginning to enter the building at 45 Kielecka Street on the basis of a court order. The Russian ambassador to Poland called this a violation of the Vienna Convention and promised a reaction from Moscow.
- A Polish court had previously found that the Russian embassy had been using the two buildings illegally for years, after which Warsaw City Hall and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated legal steps to return the premises to the Polish side.
- According to the Polish news outlet Onet, the building at 45 Kielecka Street was nationalised and handed over to the Soviets in 1945. Since 1953, a school attached to the Soviet Embassy had been operating there, and children of diplomats from other Warsaw Pact countries also studied there.
- On Wednesday, the Russian embassy said that Poland had confiscated all the money from the diplomatic mission's accounts.
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