Poland Declares Sputnik Correspondent Bezeka Unwanted

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Poland has declared Sputnik correspondent Viktor Bezeka unwanted in the country over his journalistic activities, allegedly directed against Warsaw and the European Union, the office of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.

"Russian citizen Bezeka has been included in the list of unwanted foreigners on the territory of Poland at the request of the head of the Internal Security Agency," a statement read.

Bezeka's journalistic activities allegedly represent an "element of the information war carried out by the Kremlin against Poland and the European Union," the office said, adding that the journalist "has been disseminating Russian propaganda directed against Poland's interests and its image in the international arena for many years."

This is not the first time Poland has targeted Russian journalists working in the country. In 2014, Leonid Sviridov, journalist of the Rossiya Segodnya international media group, was stripped of the right to long-term residency in Poland. In 2016, the Schengen countries also declared him persona non grata and banned Sviridov from entering the area until December 2020 at Poland's initiative. In 2021, the ban was extended for five years. At that time, a similar decision was taken against Evgeny Reshetnev, correspondent of the Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Warsaw is violating freedom of the media and the Schengen legislation by persecuting Russian journalists.