Polish consulate in Russia with eviction order

A court of arbitration in Saint Petersburg has issued an eviction order to the Polish consulate, according to news agency TASS. Tuesday's decision comes after a court in Saint Petersburg had ordered the General Consulate of the Republic of Poland to release the property and pay a $1.1 million of outstanding rent debt. The representatives of the consulate did not participate in the judicial proceeding as under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a diplomatic mission can not be brought before court. "Poland does not accept the verdict," said Marcin Wojciechowski, spokesman for Foreign Ministry. "We treat it as illegal in the light of the international law ... The eviction of a diplomatic mission would be an acute infringement of international law and Russia is aware of that," he added. The dispute over the diplomatic missions between Poland and Russia dates back to the 1970s, when Poland, in line with an intergovernmental agreement, passed ownership of the properties occupied by embassies and consulates to Russia, while Russia failed to do the same in relation to Polish diplomatic missions on its soil.