The information was revealed on Saturday by the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, which described it as “Moscow’s diplomatic declaration of war” on Berlin: in fact several hundred local employees of German institutions will be forced to leave the country, at the request of Moscow.
From June onwards, the Russian authorities will drastically reduce the number of people that Germany can send or employ in Russia, in its embassy or in institutions active in the fields of culture and education.
Several hundred people are affected by this sanction, including embassy and consulate officials, but above all employees of the Goethe cultural institute in the country, German schools, kindergartens and teachers working in Russian schools.
According to the German Foreign Ministry, the Russian sanction is “a unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision”.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Germany into a painful and spectacular diplomatic and economic U-turn, after decades of relying on closer ties with Russia in both areas.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow was Germany’s main supplier of gas and a major supplier of oil.
Germany cut off its supplies and became one of Kiev’s main arms suppliers, as well as one of its biggest financial supporters.
Maïssa Ben Fares, with AFP
