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Poland’s designs on western Ukraine endanger Europe, SVR chief cautions

It is noted that the thing is that there are quite a few locations on the European continent where neighbors are silently interested in the territories of adjacent states

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. Warsaw’s eye on regaining control over western Ukraine imperils all of Europe and Moscow is keeping close tabs on the developments there, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin told journalists on Thursday.

"This (Poland’s plans - TASS) is dangerous for Ukraine and for all of Europe. The thing is that there are quite a few locations on the European continent where neighbors are silently interested in the territories of adjacent states. So if Poland opens this Pandora’s box, there will be hell to pay," the intelligence chief said following a joint session of the boards of the SVR and the Belarusian State Security Committee.

According to him, this can considerably complicate the situation on the continent. "This will reduce the level of international security in general. Therefore, we are closely monitoring the development of the situation," the official added.

"We are keeping a close watch on this aspect of the Ukrainian crisis. What Poland is doing is a reflection of Poland’s policy, and their ambitions with regards to that part of territory that Ukraine now occupies. These ambitions date back to Rzeczpospolita’s past. The current Polish authorities aspire to return to that state," he noted.

"We are using the public space as an instrument to thwart this policy, forecasting, and publicizing some of the information that we obtained," the top intelligence official stated.

Earlier, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolay Patrushev noted that Kiev’s Western partners have "special plans" for Ukrainian lands. According to him, Poland, by all appearances, has already started to make moves on occupying western Ukrainian territories.