Hundreds of employees of German institutions are forced to leave the Russian Federation

Several hundred German citizens, including diplomats, teachers and employees of cultural organizations, will have to leave Russia in the coming days. The news about this was confirmed on Saturday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany.

In April, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced plans to reduce the number of personnel at the German diplomatic mission and German cultural institutions in Russia. The department said that the decision of the Russian authorities is a “mirror” reaction to Germany’s actions.

The newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Saturday that hundreds of German citizens, including employees of the Goethe Institute, which promotes German culture and the German language abroad, will have to leave Russia at the beginning of June. “Fontanka” reported that the Goethe Institute went on summer break early on May 27.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany confirmed the reports and called the decision of the Russian authorities unilateral and unjustified. The German Foreign Ministry did not say how many diplomats and employees of the cultural institution will leave Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova called the statement of the German Foreign Ministry “another lie”, told the DPA agency that Russia was reacting to the steps of the German side, in particular to the expulsion of several dozen Russian diplomats in April. Earlier, however, Russia already responded to this decision by sending out more than 20 German diplomats.
The statement of the German Foreign Ministry emphasizes that the country’s authorities will assess the situation and take necessary steps to “balance” the Russian diplomatic presence in the country. The message does not say whether there will be a “ceiling” on the number of employees of diplomatic missions.