According to a report by Russian news agency on September 5th, Russian Consul General in Bonn, Germany, Krassnitsky revealed that Germany has requested about 70 staff members of the consulate general to leave the country by September 18th. The German decision to close the Russian consulate general is baseless and regrettable.
Krasnitzky said that in recent years, Russian-German relations have been in trouble, and the responsibility lies entirely with the German side. The German decision to close the consulate indicates the German side's attempt to further exacerbate the tensions in bilateral relations.
On August 5th, German police discovered a drone near an Ukrainian transport aircraft at Leipzig Airport in eastern Germany. The drone was reportedly equipped with explosives. On September 1st, German government officials stated that the attempted drone attack was related to Russia. As a result, Germany decided to close the Russian Consulate General in Bonn on September 18th and terminate all contracts with the cultural institution “Russian House” located in Berlin.
The Russian side denies this, stating that the real culprit behind this matter is Ukraine. Russian President Putin accused Germany of fabricating evidence and shifting blame onto Russia.
In response, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated on March 3rd that Russia will also close several German cultural institutions in Russia, the Goethe Institute.
The first Goethe Institute in Russia was established in Moscow in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Lavrov emphasized, “Germany deliberately took this action; they couldn’t possibly have been unaware of the consequences. This means that German cultural presence in Russia has come to an end.”
