“Germany Withdraws Permission for Four Russian Consulates in Response to Staff Cuts”

Germany, in response to Russia’s restriction of the number of German civil servants on its territory, withdrew the permission to operate four of the five Russian consulates in Germany.

This is reported Spiegelwrites “European truth“.

The representative of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin announced that the FRG responds to cuts by Russia the number of all employees of German diplomatic missions and other organizations, such as the Goethe Institute, to 350 people, and in response closes four Russian consulates.

According to him, the Russian side was informed about the decision on May 31, and Moscow is asked to finally curtail the work of these consulates until December 31, 2023.

Another consulate general and the Russian embassy will be able to continue their work.

The spokesman noted that the decision created “structural and personnel parity”.

At the same time, Germany is closing three of its consulates in Russia since November – in Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry called Russia’s decision an escalation. “This unjustified decision forces the federal government to resort to very significant cuts in all areas of our presence in Russia,” he said.

Moscow made its decision, probably in response to attempts by the German government to get rid of Russian intelligence officers disguised as diplomats. When in April Germany double-digit number of employees leftthe Russian Foreign Ministry announced the “hostile actions of Berlin” and warned of the consequences.