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Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Leipzig
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The German government has ordered the closure of four of the five Russian consulates in Germany – the Foreign Ministry in Moscow is now reacting to this and threatening to take further steps: Germany should not believe "that these ill-conceived provocations will remain without our appropriate response," it said in a statement.
Germany's decision to reduce Russia's consular presence is seen as "another unfriendly step" aimed at destroying relations between the two countries. Berlin is losing its bearings "in the heat of a hostile policy" and bears full responsibility for the deterioration of relations between the two countries.
The German government announced on Wednesday that four of the five Russian consulates general in Germany would have to close. Another consulate general and the Russian embassy can therefore continue to operate.
The move followed an announcement by Moscow that numerous German state officials will have to leave Russia as Moscow has introduced a cap on personnel. According to this, the "total German presence" in Russia is to be limited to 350 people from June. This affects not only diplomats, but also employees of German cultural institutions.
Russian consulate in Bonn apparently remains in place
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the consulates in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich are to be closed. Accordingly, the position in Bonn, former federal capital, would remain. A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin said, according to dpa information, that Russia would decide for itself which of its consulates general would be preserved. For Russians in Germany, there are fewer places to go to apply for new passports, for example.
Berlin defended the escalation of the situation. The Russian government had "taken a step of escalation" by limiting the overall German presence. And this unjustified decision is forcing the German government to make a very significant cut in all areas of its presence in Russia," a ministry spokesman said. The German government has decided to close the German consulates general in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.
Goethe-Institut affected
As a result of the new Russian decision, several hundred German civil servants such as diplomats, teachers and employees of the Goethe-Institut will have to leave Russia. The cap will come into force at the beginning of June and, in addition to the diplomatic service, will primarily affect the cultural and educational sectors. Among other things, jobs at the German School in Moscow and at the Goethe-Institut in Russia will have to be cut.
According to its own information, the Goethe-Institut has been active in Russia for 30 years with institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg and since 2009 in Novosibirsk. It looks after around 20 language learning centres and around 10,000 German teachers with almost two million German pupils to date. Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, cooperation with government agencies has been stopped, language courses and exams have still been offered.
sol/dpa/AFP