MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Russia demands explanations from Poland over its denial of entry to Russian bikers from the Night Wolves club taking part in the Moscow-Berlin motorcycle rally, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday.
"On April 27, a group of Russian motorcyclists who planned to pay tribute, shortly before the 70th anniversary of the Victory, to the memory of Soviet warriors who had died when liberating European states from fascism were denied entry to the Polish territory via the Brest-Terespol border crossing point," the statement said.
The ministry said all motorcycle rally participants had valid Schengen visas.
"We are indignant at the fact that before announcing their decision, the Polish authorities subjected them to a many-hour inspection and a long procedure of questioning," the statement said.
"The border-crossing point was deliberately reinforced with military, as if they wanted to create an impression that a small group of Russian citizens heading for Europe with noble aims, bears ‘a threat’ to the Polish state," it said.
"We are demanding explanations from the Polish authorities and decisively condemn their actions testifying to the readiness to rewrite history and in essence blaspheme, for opportunistic reasons, over the feat of those who saved Poland and the world from fascism," it said.
Polish border guards said earlier Monday they had blocked entry for 10 Russian bikers from the Night Wolves club traveling from Moscow to Berlin for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
"They will not cross the border as they do not fulfill the conditions of entry into Poland," Dariusz Sienicki, a border guard spokesman said.
After spending hours at Poland's Terespol border crossing the bikers returned to the Belarusian city of Brest located near the Polish border.
The Russian bikers left Moscow on April 25. They were due to travel through Minsk, Brest, Wroclaw, Brno, Bratislava, Vienna, Munich and Prague before reaching Berlin on May 9, Victory Day.
The Russian ambassador in Warsaw, Sergey Andreyev, told TASS the embassy had received no official explanations for the entry denial.
The German Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that visas for five participants of the tour had been canceled.