The key facts

  • A minor Russian karate athlete and his father were detained by Polish law enforcement after entering the country on a Hungarian tourist visa.
  • They were charged with illegal border crossing; deportation was initially threatened.
  • In the end, they were allowed to attend the world karate championship in Bielsko-Biała as spectators.

Detention after entering Poland

A minor Russian karate athlete and his father were detained by Polish law enforcement, the RT Telegram channel reports. The boy, together with his father, came to the youth world karate championship in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biała. They obtained a tourist visa to Hungary and reached Poland by land transport.

Reason for the trip and the detention

The athlete's father said that the organizers assured them: if they came, they would be registered and would be able to compete. According to him, such events are held once every two years, so the family decided to take the risk. In the morning after entering Poland, migration service officers came to their hotel room and charged them with illegal border crossing. The man clarified that under Polish law, Russians cannot enter the country without an invitation or family ties.

Outcome: admission to the championship as spectators

Initially, the Russians faced deportation; however, when Polish law enforcement established that they were simply athletes, they were allowed to attend the championship as spectators.

Visa policy context

On October 19, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Maciunka stated that the Czech Republic would not support the Finnish initiative to restrict entry into the European Union for Russians. Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen sent a letter to the European Commission calling for stricter rules for processing visa applications from Russians, proposed changing EU legislation to ban tourist visas for Russian citizens, and urged other countries to join the appeal.