WARSAW, August 17. /TASS/. The Pomeranian Voivodeship Office in Poland’s north is rejecting permits to most Russians applying for temporary residence or work in the region, a local news portal dubbed trojmiasto.pl reported on Wednesday.
Based on figures for the past five months, Russians have received 78 denials. A total of 548 right-to-work or permanent residence applications have been filed since February 24. Most of these papers, according to the news site, are still being processed by officials, and more rejections are expected.
According to the portal’s unofficial information, the spike in denials is linked to the recommendations of the Polish Internal Security Agency.
Poland’s Act on Foreigners of 2013, which provides for rejecting temporary stay requests is being increasingly used as grounds for refusals "when so required for national defense or security, or the protection of security and public order, or obligations arising from ratified international agreements."
Based on statistics from Polish social services, there are more than 1,200 Russian citizens living in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. This is the fourth largest ethnic group in the region. Ukrainians occupy first place in this category with 42,500 people; Belarusians are second with about 5,000 people, while Georgians occupy third place with 1,524 people.