The Polish authorities have announced that Leonid Sviridov, a Russian reporter, will not be permitted to enter the Schengen Area for the next five years.

Sviridov was a reporter of the Russian press agency, RIA Novosti, for several years. He was also a reporter of the Rossija Siegodnia, located in Warsaw, StudyinPoland.Info reports.

In 2014, Sviridov was ordered to leave Poland by the Polish Internal Security Agency after being accused of acting to Poland’s disadvantage. However, the unmitigated reasons related to his expulsion still remain secret.

Back at that time, Jaroslaw Chestowski, Sviridov’s attorney, insisted that his client’s expulsion was not related to espionage.

“Such activity is punishable by law, and if the competent authorities found that the plaintiff was engaged in espionage activities, he would be arrested and tried in Poland because he did not have immunity,” Jaroslaw Chestowski commented on the issue.

In a letter provided by Sviridov to the Polish media, the author of the letter stated that his client was banned after the Polish authorities concluded that “Leonid Sviridov’s entry into the territory of The Republic of Poland or his stay in this territory constitutes a threat to the security of the state. “

Last year Sviridov demanded an apology and a compensation of 60,000 PLN for the accusations of espionage made towards him. However, the court dismissed his lawsuit.

This is not the first case when the Polish authorities ban a Russian journalist under suspicions that the same poses threats to the security of the country. Previously, the Polish authorities also banned Yevgeny Reshetnev, another Russian reporter who works on Russian television, for being engaged in other activities besides his work as a journalist.

With the Head of the Military Counterintelligence Service’s request, Reshetnev, who already left Poland in January 2020, has been banned from entering Poland for five years and banned from entering the Schengen Area for three years.

The Polish government informed that they took this decision because Reshetnev was collecting materials in order to give false information against Poland’s activities.

In Russia, Reshetnev is known for military reports, and he also is the author of the film “Warszawski Express”. In this film, Reshetnev narrates the story of Ukrainian citizens leaving to work in Poland and portrays Polish nationals negatively, who, according to him, humiliate and attack Ukrainians.

As a response to these actions taken by the Polish authorities, Russia has claimed that there is a wave of oppression going on against Russian journalists. The ministry said that the charges against Reshetnikov are a justification to “persecute Russians who are considered inconvenient.”