WARSAW: Poland’s foreign minister said Tuesday that he is ordering the closure of one of three Russian consulates in the country in response to acts of sabotage including arson attacks that he said were sponsored by Moscow.
Radek Sikorski demanded that Russia stop what he called hybrid war actions against Poland and its Western allies, warning that Poland reserves the right “to take further decisive action” if they don’t stop.
“As the minister of foreign affairs, I have information that the Russian Federation is behind attempts at sabotage, both in Poland and in allied countries,” Sikorski told reporters in Warsaw.
He said he was withdrawing consent for the Russian Consulate in Poznan, and that its personnel would be unwelcome in Poland. Russia also has consulates in Gdansk and Krakow.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised “a painful response to yet another hostile act” in comments to state news agency RIA Novosti.
Sikorski cited the arrest in January of a Ukrainian citizen who he said admitted that Russian agents told him to carry out an arson attack in the city of Wroclaw. The attack was foiled, and the 51-year-old man, identified only as Serhii S., is awaiting a court trial.
Sikorski alleged that about 20 such sabotage suspects are under investigation in Poland, and that he has knowledge of other such arson plans in allied countries.
“Putin must be deterred,” the foreign minister said in an interview Monday on the private TVN broadcaster. “We have other such arson attacks all over Europe, all over Europe, and we know about the Russian plans for further arson attacks.”
The pro-European Union government in Warsaw says Russia is pursuing acts of hybrid war against Poland and other Western countries in retaliation for their support for Poland’s neighbor Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s invasion.
Poland alleges Russian sabotage and is closing one of Moscow’s consulates
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Poland alleges Russian sabotage and is closing one of Moscow’s consulates
- Radek Sikorski demanded that Russia stop what he called hybrid war actions against Poland and its Western allies
- “As the minister of foreign affairs, I have information that the Russian Federation is behind attempts at sabotage, both in Poland and in allied countries,” Sikorski told reporters
’Albania belongs in EU,’ von der Leyen tells re-elected PM Rama
- EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory
“Let’s keep working closely together on EU reforms. Albania belongs in the EU!” von der Leyen said on X. French President Emmanuel Macron also hailed Rama’s win, writing on X: “France will always stand alongside Albania on its European path.”
Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot
BERLIN: Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of foreign agent activity linked to the shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move
PARIS: France will expel Algerian diplomats in response to plans by Algiers to send more French officials home, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday, as relations between the countries deteriorate.
Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster that he would summon Algeria’s charge d’affaires to inform him of the decision that he said was “perfectly proportionate at this point” to the Algerian move, which he called “unjustified and unjustifiable.”
Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board
TOKYO: A Japanese military training plane crashed shortly after takeoff, authorities said Wednesday, with reports saying two people were on board the aircraft which appeared to have fallen in a lake.
“We’re aware a T-4 plane that belongs to the Air Self-Defense Force fell down immediately after taking off at Komaki Air Base” in central Japan, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“Details are being probed by the defense ministry,” he told reporters.
The T-4 seats two and is a “domestically produced, highly reliable and maintainable training aircraft... used for all basic flight courses,” according to the defense ministry website.
The aircraft was flying around Lake Iruka near Inuyama city north of Nagoya, according to media outlets including public broadcaster NHK.
“There is no sight of the plane yet. We’ve been told that an aerial survey by an Aichi region helicopter found a spot where oil was floating on the surface of the lake,” local fire department official Hajjime Nakamura told AFP.
He said his office had received unconfirmed information that there were two people on board but that they had not been able to independently verify this.
Aerial footage of the lake broadcast by NHK showed an oil sheen on its surface, dotted with what appeared to be various pieces of debris.
Just after 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) the local fire department received a call saying it appeared that a plane had crashed into the lake, the reports said.
The reports added, citing defense ministry sources, that the training plane had disappeared from the radar.
The defense ministry was not able to immediately confirm details to AFP.
Jiji Press said the local municipality had said there had been no damage to houses in the area.
Kabul says ready for ‘dialogue’ with US on Afghan refugees
- Over 11,000 Afghans in the US risk deportation after losing temporary protected status this month
- Many of them backed the US during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and fled in fear of the Taliban
KABUL: The Taliban government said Tuesday it was ready for “dialogue” with the Trump administration on the repatriation of Afghan refugees whose legal protections in the United States will be revoked in July.
Citing an improved security situation in Afghanistan, Washington announced Monday that the temporary protected status (TPS) designation for Afghanistan would expire on May 20 and the termination would take effect on July 12.
Kabul is “ready to engage in constructive dialogue with the US & other countries regarding repatriation of Afghans who no longer meet criteria to remain in host countries,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on X.
The Taliban government has already offered assurances that those Afghans who fled the country as they stormed back to power in 2021 could safely return.
However, the United Nations has reported cases of executions and disappearances.
Taliban authorities have also squeezed women out of education, jobs and public life since 2021, creating what the UN has called “gender apartheid.”
The move by Washington could affect more than 11,000 Afghans, many of whom supported the United States during two decades of war and fled Taliban persecution, according to Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac.
“Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans, & all have the right to free movement,” Balkhi said in his statement.
The country has faced a major economic crisis since 2021 and is enduring the second worst humanitarian crisis in the world after Sudan, according to the United Nations.
More than 100,000 Afghans have returned home since neighboring Pakistan launched a new mass expulsion campaign in April.
More than 265,000 undocumented Afghans also returned from neighboring Iran between January and April, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
US federal law permits the government to grant TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
But since taking office President Donald Trump has moved to strip the designation from citizens of countries including Haiti and Venezuela as part of his broader crackdown on immigration.
