2 Polish diplomats fired over attempted cigarette smuggling

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has fired two employees of the Polish embassy in Moscow after they tried to smuggle cigarettes worth $16,000 to Poland, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The diplomats were detained in Terespol at the border with Belarus, Marcin Bosacki said, adding that some 100,000 cigarettes were seized from the detainees. He did not elaborate on the date of the detention. “Minister Sikorski made a decision to immediately dismiss [the diplomats,” he added. A border guard spokesman said the embassy employees were traveling in a car with diplomatic plates. The cost of cigarettes in Russia and other former Soviet states, including Belarus, is many times lower than in the European Union. In Moscow, the average price of a pack of cigarettes does not exceed $1.5.