Russian boy trapped in Schengen zone

The Polish court allowed a Russian boy who escaped from Norway to return home, but it is not that easy to do. The Norwegian authorities have placed him on a wanted list and have entered his data into the Schengen passport control area. The Norwegian side has not provided the Polish court with the documents used as a basis for the return of the Russian citizen to Norway.

For several months Pravda.Ru has been following the dramatic story of the Russian citizen Irina Bergseth whose two children were taken away by the Norwegian social services. Twists and turns in this story remind an entangled movie plot: as soon as it seems that the happy ending is near, something unexpected happens. But, unfortunately, it all happens in real life.

Read previous articles about the story of Irina Bergseth:

Russian boy becomes sex slave to his own father in Norway

Russian mother desperately fights for her abused children in Norway

Russian boy torn between three countries

Russian boy hopes for Queen's help

In early August, a Polish detective helped Irina's eldest son Alexander to leave Norway where the boy was kept in a foster family that treated him with cruelty. When the mother and son tried to leave Poland for Russia, they were stopped at the border. It turned out that the Norwegian authorities have declared the Russian boy wanted by entering his passport data into the system of border control.

"The Polish border guards have asked Norway for more information on the causes of the Investigation. In response, they received a letter from the local social services that took away my children. As far as I know, the letter stated that the mother was mentally unstable and nearly deprived of her parental rights, though it is completely not true," said Irina. It became clear that this difficult situation required interference of the court. The Polish side unexpectedly became a third party in the conflict between the Russian mother and Norwegian authorities.

The Polish court studied the matter for two months. During this time the court sent requests to public authorities in Norway asking for the facts and documents based on which the boy should be returned to this country. The Polish court was not given any official explanation by the Norwegian side.

"On my part, I presented to the court five formal opinions of Norwegian physicians alleging that I am mentally healthy. In order to eliminate any doubts about my mental health, I offered them to send me for a visit to a Polish expert. However, this was not necessary," said Irina.

The Polish side showed the highest degree of humanity in this difficult situation.

They even allowed the mother and son to stay together in a foster family before the court decision, fearing that another separation would have an adverse effect on their health. As Irina was explained by the Poles, "we are Slavs and have a different mentality". Later, the court did not find it necessary to restrict the communication between the mother and son.

The Polish authorities have not found any signs of mental instability in Irina. For the Norwegian social services the alleged instability that suddenly manifested itself was the reason to take her children away. All conclusions of local doctors were completely ignored.

Without waiting for an official response to their requests from the Norwegian authorities, the Polish court allowed the Russian boy to go back to Russia. However, it turned out that so far this is impossible as he is still listed as wanted, and he will simply not be let out of the Schengen area. This is a vicious circle: the Norwegian side does not want to formally explain why they needed to have a Russian citizen, and at the same time does not recall his data from the border control system.

What will happen to the mother and child in the event of their return to Norway is easy to guess. Recently a local court banned Irina not only from communicating with her youngest son in Norway, but even from living with him in one area. Otherwise she would face a prison term of five years.

Svetlana Smetanina
Pravda.Ru

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