The war of the embassies that have been waging since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia and Germany has written a new chapter this Wednesday with the reciprocal closure of consulates. The consequences of this new turn of the screw in bilateral relations will especially affect expatriates from both countries, who will see their benefits greatly reduced.
Following Moscow's decision to reduce the German presence in the country to 350 people, including diplomatic personnel, teachers from German schools and cultural institutes, the German Government has informed the Russian side today that, out of reciprocity, the closure of four of the five consulates it has in Germany. There are Russian consulates general in Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich. Russia decides for itself which of them will remain, Foreign Affairs spokesman Christofer Burger clarified.
From the point of view of the German Government, "the question of presences is closed with the parity of personnel and structure that has now been established," he said.
In order to meet the requirements of the Russian side regarding the limitation of German personnel in Russia, Germany will close the consulates general in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. Services will already be significantly reduced in these three representations and will be completely suspended in November. Only the consulate general in St. Petersburg will remain, in addition to the already badly dismantled embassy.
Regarding the "unjustified decision" announced by the Russian government last month to limit German personnel to a maximum of 350 people, Burger spoke of an "escalation" that forces Berlin to make "considerable cuts in all areas of its presence " in Russia.
He specified that Russia explicitly includes in this group of people not only dispatched personnel and local recruits at the German embassy in Moscow and in consulates general, but also cultural mediators, for example, in German schools and in centers of the Goethe Institute.
The objective of the German government, he pointed out, is to guarantee a "minimum presence" in Russia of these cultural personnel and at the same time maintain a diplomatic presence, which is only possible "if the workforce in all countries is reduced, in some cases drastically." areas," he said.
Regarding the prospects of reopening the consulates in the future, Burger noted that "currently, unfortunately, events are going in exactly the opposite direction."
"In this sense, it is unfortunate that today we have to talk about such a reduction in the diplomatic and consular presence, but it is the behavior of the Russian side that has led us to this situation," he stressed. The decision has been communicated today to the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russia has been asked to immediately begin efforts so that the process concludes no later than December 31.
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