Russian biker gang Night Wolves refused entry into Poland

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/27/poland-refuses-entry-to-russian-biker-gang-night-wolves

Version 0 of 1.

Poland have refused entry to members of a controversial Russian biker gang, forcing a change of plans for a “victory ride” across Europe scheduled to end on 9 May in Berlin 70 years since the end of the Great Patriotic War, as the second world war is known in Russia.

A group of 10 bikers from the Night Wolves group tried to cross the Belarus-Poland border on Monday but were turned back by Polish border guards after a long session of questioning. The group said it still planned to ride to Berlin, but would find alternative ways to do so.

The Night Wolves are controversial due to their support for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and their role in the annexation of Crimea last year and subsequently in east Ukraine. Their leader, Alexander Zaldostanov, is known as “the Surgeon” and is one of the founders of Anti-Maidan, a Russian group that has promised to crush liberal protesters it believes are determined to create a Ukrainian-style revolution in Russia. The Surgeon is seen as friendly with Putin, and the Russian president has previously ridden with the gang in a photo opportunity aimed at boosting his macho image.

A group of around 15 riders made it to the border between the Belarusian town of Brest and the Polish town of Terespol on Monday, with five of them saying they had no visas for Poland but were there to wave off their friends. The 10 were allowed through by Belarusian guards but were turned back by the Poles.

“These people will not cross into Poland. Each of them will receive a separate refusal,” said Dariusz Sienicki, a spokesperson for the Polish border guards. One of the bikers said they had been searched by the Poles “down to the last sock” before being turned away.

The Polish prime minister, Ewa Kopacz, had previously called the rally a “provocation” possibly aimed at putting Poles “in danger of distress”. Other Poles have spoken out against the bikers and have demanded they be banned from the country. However, some Polish bikers supported the rally, and had planned to escort the Night Wolves through the country. About 100 of them gathered on the Polish side of the border and honked horns in protest against the ban.

The Night Wolves have said they will continue with their plans to ride to Berlin even if they are turned away by Poland.

“Other people who will not say they are Night Wolves will travel by other routes and accomplish this mission,” Zaldostanov told Russian agency LifeNews.

Zaldostanov himself was not travelling with the column, and has remained in Moscow, as his passport is currently at the embassy of a European country awaiting a visa decision, the biker group said. Zaldostanov had said he would catch up with the column as soon as he gets a visa.

The original route was due to take them from Belarus through Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, to reach Berlin in time for 9 May.

Russia has lavish plans for Victory Day this year, with a parade of 16,000 soldiers on Red Square and the newest military vehicles and planes on display. Putin will host a number of world leaders, including the leaders of China, India and Brazil, and Kim Jong-un, the reclusive leader of North Korea. However, most western leaders will stay away, in protest against Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will not come to Moscow for the parade but will instead travel a day later to lay a wreath at a war memorial.