Germany closed its consulates in three Russian cities — in Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.
This is stated on the website of the German diplomatic mission in Russia.
It is noted that from now on consular and passport issues in the regions are supervised by offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
This decision was taken after Russia limited the number of German officials in the country to 350 in May 2023, and German diplomats left Russia. The German Foreign Ministry then announced that due to Russiaʼs decision, Germany would not have enough officials for consular support in the Russian Federation, and decided to close its consulates in the country.
- In October 2023, Finland closed its oldest consulate general in St. Petersburg, because Moscow revoked the corresponding license. Since September 1, the Embassy of Finland in Moscow has taken over all consular and migration issues. Two other consulates in geographical proximity to Finland, operating since the 1990s, in Petrozavodsk and Murmansk, were closed by Finland by decision earlier in 2023, and later Russia announced their final closure.