Warsaw, again, like a year ago, refused to allow participants of a motorcycle rally dedicated to the anniversary of the Victory to enter the country. Because of this, the Polish ambassador has already been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry

Before the start of a motorcycle rally to Berlin in honor of Victory Day. Moscow, April 29, 2016 (Photo: Sergey Fadeichev/TASS)

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Polish Ambassador Katarzyna Pelczyńska-Nalęcz in connection with the refusal of the Polish authorities to allow members of the Russian Motorcyclists group, who planned a motorcycle rally for the 71st anniversary of the Victory, into the country. This was reported by the press service of the Russian department.

The ministry said that on April 28, the Polish Foreign Ministry informed Russian diplomats about the refusal to give consent to the entry of bikers. The Foreign Ministry noted that Warsaw has made such a decision for the second year in a row, “without bothering to provide any formal arguments to justify it.”

“We regard Warsaw’s refusal, which deprived a group of Russian citizens of the opportunity to pay tribute to Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Europe from fascism, as a particularly cynical and malicious gesture aimed at deliberately deteriorating Russian-Polish relations,” the department said, noting that “special “What is indignant is the fact that the decision was made after Moscow assisted Warsaw in holding events in the Smolensk region related to the anniversary of the Katyn tragedy and the crash of the Polish presidential plane near Smolensk.

“In connection with the unfriendly actions of the Polish authorities, on April 29, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Russian Federation was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and lodged a strong protest,” the ministry said. The press service added that Warsaw’s decision “is a mockery of the memory of those who died in the fight against fascism.” “Responsibility for the inevitable negative consequences for bilateral relations of such defiant behavior by Warsaw will lie exclusively on the Polish side,” the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded.

The Polish Foreign Ministry, in turn , stated that the reason for the refusal was the desire of the country's authorities to ensure the protection of public order.

Later, an Interfax correspondent reported that Pelczynska-Nalecz arrived at the ministry.

The motorcycle rally “On the Roads of Victory to Berlin” is planned by the “Night Wolves” motorcycle club. On Friday, April 29, the bikers started from the Moscow Bike Center, they planned to ride through the territory of Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany and finish the trip on May 9 in Berlin. As TASS clarifies , the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the governments of the EU countries about the trip, in particular, a note with a request to help the participants of the motorcycle rally was sent to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs back in March.

Motorcyclists tried to carry out a similar trip in 2015, but then Polish border guards refused to let most of the bikers through. Officially, the Polish authorities explained the refusal by “the lack of necessary, accurate information about the schedule of the group’s stay in Poland, its routes of movement and places of overnight stay.”

Poland refused to allow participants in the motorcycle rally to mark the 71st anniversary of the Victory