Germany may impose sanctions against Russia House after drone incident at Leipzig airport

The incident with a drone at Leipzig airport has once again intensified the debate around the "Russian House". Although official Berlin has not directly accused Russia of this, more and more signs point to Russian involvement. Because of this, the German government is already discussing possible sanctions, which for the first time could affect the "Russian House" building.

According to Spiegel, terminating the agreement governing the work of the Russian House is no longer considered impossible.

When asked by journalists, the German Foreign Ministry stated that due to Russiaʼs actions against German cultural organizations and against the backdrop of increased Russian hybrid activity, the government is "comprehensively and continuously reviewing the international legal basis for the activities of the Russian House". A preliminary decision may be made as early as next week.

Calls for sanctions against the center, which German intelligence agencies also suspect of espionage activities, have been made for a long time. Recently, this has been advocated, in particular, by the CDUʼs foreign policy representative Roderich Kiesewetter, the leader of the SPDʼs Berlin electoral list Steffen Krach, and the Greensʼ domestic policy expert Konstantin von Notz.

The Russian House in Berlin is run by the Russian state agency Roscoe, which has been under EU sanctions since 2022. At the same time, the sanctions allow the organization to maintain its buildings.

The activities of the Russian House are regulated by two agreements between Germany and Russia. One, signed in 2013, concerns a plot of land on Friedrichstrasse and is valid for 99 years. The second, concluded in 2011, regulates the work of cultural and information centers — this agreement can be unilaterally terminated once every five years, the next such date will be June 7, 2027.

So far, the current and previous German governments have avoided terminating this agreement. Since it also regulates the work of German cultural institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Moscow is expected to retaliate by closing them. These are the last representations of German civil society in Russia. The German embassy in Russia has repeatedly warned of the possible consequences of such a move. However, it now seems that the German government is ready to ignore these concerns.

• At the airport in Leipzig, Germany, on the night of August 5, a drone with explosives was discovered near a Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan aircraft.

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