It’s a diplomatic tit-for-tat: Hundreds of German civil servants have to leave Russia. The reason is a new upper limit for the number of staff in the diplomatic missions. The Foreign Office reacted without understanding.
Hundreds of German civil servants have to leave Russia these days. The Foreign Office confirmed this ARD-Hauptstadtstudio a corresponding report of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Accordingly, diplomats, but above all cultural mediators such as teachers at the German school in Moscow and a significant number of employees of the Goethe Institute are affected. Overall, there is talk of a low to medium three-digit number.
All efforts failed
The Federal Foreign Office referred to a decision by the Russian Foreign Ministry made public in April in connection with the reduction of the presence of Russian intelligence services in Germany. This envisages introducing an upper limit for the number of staff in the foreign missions and the German intermediary organizations in Russia. “This limit set by Russia from the beginning of June requires a major cut in all areas of our presence in Russia.”
According to the newspaper report, the federal government tried to get rid of employees of Russian secret services disguised as diplomats without expelling them. According to the report, Russia is now accusing the federal government of having sent about twice as many people to Russia as vice versa. According to the information, about 350 people should remain. All attempts to dissuade the Foreign Ministry in Moscow from the plan have failed, the newspaper reports, citing German government circles.
A “not understandable Decision”
It is now assumed that it will not be possible without painful steps, such as the closure of facilities. “In view of this unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision, the Federal Government is now concerned with ensuring a minimum presence of mediators in Russia while at the same time maintaining the diplomatic presence,” said the Federal Foreign Office. This is only possible if “in all areas the number of employees is reduced, in some cases sharply”.
According to the information, the upper limit includes “the employees seconded to our missions abroad, the employees seconded to intermediaries and the employees employed locally by the missions abroad and intermediaries”. According to the newspaper, this also included Russian nationals who work for German institutions.
In the course of their serious tensions in the past, Germany and Russia have repeatedly expelled diplomats from each other. The representations have already been greatly thinned out, the services for German citizens are reduced or are associated with longer waiting times, for example when documents are issued. The situation worsened significantly with the start of the Russian war against Ukraine.