Poland to ban Ukrainian blogger from entering the country for five years over a trip to Morskie Oko
On May 23, Polish authorities imposed a five-year entry ban on a Ukrainian blogger. The reason was a violation of the rules of the Tatra National Park: Andriy Havryliv drove his car to Morskie Oko Lake, despite the ban in effect. The incident sparked public outcry in Poland.
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kervinsky announced this on Saturday on social media.
“The person responsible for the trip to Morskie Oko will be held accountable. Due to the violation of public order, at the request of the police, he will be added to the list of undesirable persons with a five-year ban on entry into the territory of the Republic of Poland. Violations of the law will always be met with a severe response,” the minister wrote.
Earlier on Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate the incident involving the Ukrainian and take strict measures.
Ukrainian blogger Andriy Gavryliv drove his sports car into Lake Morskie Oko, which violated the ban on private vehicles entering the Tatra National Park.
The police fined him 100 zlotys, although the fine for such an offense is up to 5,000 zlotys. This incident caused a huge outcry among Poles.
On his social media, Gavryliv explained that he was simply a tourist and had no intention of breaking the law. In particular, he said he did not see the no-entry sign. He also described the Polish law enforcement officers who issued him a small fine as understanding of the situation.
“When we drove to Oka, the locals were shocked and said that in all their years of working there, they had never once seen anyone drive a car in. In short, driving a car in here isn’t exactly legal. I thought: since we’re already here, we should take a photo,” the blogger described the situation.
As a reminder, social media users have drawn attention to Artur Yermolayev, a well-known phone scammer in Ukraine who was caught by law enforcement but, after paying 8.5 million euros, allegedly left for Estonia and is currently traveling the world, sometimes by private jet.
