Russia summons Polish ambassador over entry ban for Night Wolves bikers club
Russia has summoned Polish Ambassador Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz to object to Warsaw’s refusal to grant entry to the members of a Russian motorcycle club to the country.
The Russian foreign ministry on Friday also called the ban a “particularly cynical and malicious gesture aimed at deliberate deterioration in Russian-Polish relations,” adding that the group of bikers intended to “pay tribute to Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Europe from fascism.”
The bikers of the Night Wolves motorcycle club had planned to ride their Harley-Davidsons through Poland to Berlin to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Soviet Red Army’s victory over the Nazi Germany on May 9.
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said earlier in the day that the bikers' entry was refused due to “security concerns” without giving further details.
This is the second such ban on the Night Wolves by the Polish authorities. The ban in April 2015 came amid tensions between Warsaw and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. Poland called the ride a provocation back then.
Moreover, Germany also created some visa restrictions for the group last year, and the United States and Canada have also announced sanctions against the Night Wolves and its leader, Alexander Zaldostanov, a former physician also known as The Surgeon.
The bikers planned to cover a 6,000-kilometer-trip (3,720 miles) through Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria, before reaching the German capital.
The Night Wolves was founded in 1989 and is currently comprised of some 5,000 members from across the territory of the former Soviet Union. The club was one of the supporters of the return of the Crimean peninsula to Russia -- which occurred last year. The club is believed to have close ties to President Vladimir Putin as he has appeared at their rallies, riding a Harley-Davidson trike.
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