The rally to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany started Saturday in Moscow: about four dozen Night Wolves members had planned to visit several European countries before finishing the journey on May 9 in Berlin, laying flowers at the monument for Soviet soldiers in Treptow Park.
“After crossing Belarusia, where the Russian biker’s delegation was accompanied by the police, the bikers received a blow to their plans when the Polish border guards surrounded them,” Piskorski told Sputnik.
“Using my press card, I tried to approach them and ask what's going on, but, unfortunately, the Polish border guards told me to leave. We crossed the border and waited for the motorcyclists on the Polish side. Sometime later we learned that the motorcyclists were not allowed into Poland due to technical deficiencies relating to traffic regulations.”
According to Piskorski the explanations given by the border services were lies, because the Russian motorcyclists were given documents stating that they were being deported and they were personae non gratae in the territory of Poland. Thus, according to him, the actual administrative actions are completely different from those that were presented by the border press service.
“This whole situation caused great disgust amongst the crowd of several hundreds of people. These people wanted to welcome the Russian motorcyclists in Poland. The people were not just motorcyclists from Poland, but also residents of the border regions of the country. I talked to them. Most Poles gathered at the border were disgusted by what the Polish authorities did today. The Russian bikers wanted to pay tribute not only to the Soviet, but also to the Polish soldiers.”
He expressed hope that this whole situation would not affect the public relations between the two countries. He said that he hoped Russians would understand and forgive the Polish citizens because it was not their decision.
“For most Poles, as I said, this decision is bitter. This decision was made by the authorities and in no way expresses the views of the majority of Polish citizens.”
On Friday, the Polish Foreign Ministry officially banned the Night Wolves from entering Poland during their planned trip to Berlin citing a lack of details on the planned activities of the bikers, their exact travel routes as well as the location of their nightly rest stops.
