The German federal government has decided to close four out of five Russian consulates, writes Spiegel.
In Germany, it was called a reaction to the decision of the Russian authorities to limit the number of German officials in Russia to 350.
The German Foreign Ministry has announced that it will close its consulates in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk in November.
The German Foreign Ministry noted that this step would create "structural and personnel parity." On Saturday, May 27, it became known that Moscow introduced "the upper limit of the number of personnel of German diplomatic missions and German intermediary organizations." Because of this, German officials have to leave Russia at the beginning of June.
Russia has limited the number of German civil servants in the country to 350. This also applies to cultural institutions. The German Foreign Ministry said that due to Russiaʼs decision, the Federal Republic of Germany would not have enough officials for consular support in the Russian Federation. The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Russia of escalation.
- On March 25, it was reported that the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Berbock, plans to expel from Germany more than 30 Russian diplomats who were accredited in Berlin. Diplomats were suspected of recruiting German informants.
- On April 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia announced the mass expulsion of its diplomats from Germany. The Russian agency reported that the Russian Federation is expelling German diplomats in response and significantly reducing the number of employees of German diplomatic missions.