WARSAW — Poland has withdrawn accreditation for a Russian journalist working in Warsaw at the request of the Polish internal security agency, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saturday.
The ministry declined to provide any further information on its action against Leonid Sviridov, who was working in Poland for Russian state-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya.
"This has happened at the request of ABW," said Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski. ABW is the acronym for Poland's Internal Security Agency.
The action follows last week's arrest of two men on suspicion of spying. A member of the Polish parliament's intelligence committee said they had been working for Russian intelligence.
The withdrawal of Leonid Sviridov's media accreditation could potentially mean that he might lose the right to reside in Poland.
The head of Rossiya Segodnya was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency, which is part of the Rossiya Segodnya holding group, that Poland should explain its actions.
"We demand from the Foreign Ministry of Poland official explanations of the causes for denying the journalist's accreditation," Dmitry Kiselyov was quoted as saying.
Poland's Internal Security Agency was not available for comment.
