Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Władysław Kosiniak Kamysz, reacted to the Russian ambassador’s failure to appear at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after having been summoned in relation to the Sunday incident involving a violation of Polish airspace by a Russian missile on its way to hit a target in Ukraine. He described Ambassador Andreyev’s comments given to Russian media as “a manifestation of contempt” and said that the Polish side is now pondering how to react to such behavior. An expert on diplomatic protocol weighed in, calling Andreyev’s behavior “unacceptable” and spoke of whether or not Warsaw should expel Andreyev for his failure to perform his duties as a diplomat. Andreyev’s behavior casts doubt over his fitness to serve as a diplomat but there is little doubt he was following orders from his operators in Moscow.
When asked on Monday evening on Polsat News about the conduct and statements of the Russian ambassador, Poland’s Minister of Defense Władysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called Andreyev’s words “a manifestation of contempt.” In his opinion, “we cannot ignore this,” adding that “this is not the first time we have dealt with violations of both law and international standards,” he said.
He added the violation of Polish airspace is a violation of law as well as of standards regarding diplomatic relations “related to the note that must be handed over, with the position of the Polish government,” which were also violated.
“We will be making further decisions,” Kosiniak-Kamysz announced. He moreover emphasized that there is continual communication between the president, prime minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and BBN (National Security Bureau) on the matter.
“These must always be coordinated decisions because it must be the response of the Polish state as a whole,” said the defense minister, announcing a series of meetings between top Polish officials in the coming days.
As he assessed, Polish-Russian contacts are currently limited to bare minimum.
Diplomacy à la russe
Inquired about the ambassador’s conduct by the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Sibora referred to French politician and diplomat Léon Bourgeois, who said that “a diplomat works for peace.”
“You can’t be a diplomat if you work for war, because that contradicts the essence of diplomacy,” said the historian, quoting Bourgeois. According to Sibora, when following this line of thinking, Ambassador Andreyev’s conduct is unacceptable and even intolerable.
“The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations defines the essence of the functioning of diplomatic missions. This essence is to maintain contacts and relations with the host country. Lack of these contacts, ignoring, and failure to communicate is a denial of the essence of diplomatic work. Failure of an ambassador to appear at the Foreign Ministry is a major misconduct,” Sibora assessed.
Sibora stressed that Poland could demand the ambassador’s departure from the country by making him persona non grata, nevertheless, in his opinion, it is good that it has not taken this step.
“We prefer to keep the channel of diplomatic communication at the level of the ambassador. This is a resolute approach.” he assessed.
