Moscow accuses Warsaw of violating bilateral agreements by dismantling Soviet soldiers' monument in Polish town of Mielec
MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the removal of a monument of gratitude to the Red Army in the Polish town of Mielec.
"By dismantling the monument, the Polish side thus once again grossly violated the provisions of fundamental bilateral documents, namely: the Russian-Polish agreement on friendly and good neighborly cooperation, of May 22, 1992; the Russian-Polish governmental agreement on cooperation in culture, science and education, of August 25, 1993; and the Russian-Polish governmental agreement regarding the memorials to victims of wars and repressions, of February 22, 1994," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its official site on Monday.
"Such actions, which in Poland are beginning to occur on a massive scale, most cynically insult the memory of the Soviet soldiers who died for the liberation of Europe from fascism," the ministry said.
"It is sad that the Polish authorities are not doing anything to stop vandals," the ministry said.
"In view of this, on November 30, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its resolute protest to the Polish Ambassador and its outrage at yet another removal of a Soviet monument," the ministry said.
The ministry stressed that it is expecting Warsaw's explanations of the incident.
"We demand from the new Polish government that it should stop this Bacchanalia which contradicts all conceivable ideas about present-day civilization, stop the demolition of Soviet monuments, guarantee their intactness, restore the damage and punish those responsible," the ministry said.