The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Sakharova, wrote on Wednesday evening on the social network Telegram. A reaction to the expulsion of Russian diplomats is now expected.
After the verdict in the Berlin “Tiergarten Murder” trial, relations between Germany and Russia are facing a new stress test. It is expected that Moscow will react to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats ordered by the German government with countermeasures. “The unfriendly actions of Berlin will not remain without an appropriate response,” wrote the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Sakharova, on Wednesday evening on the social network Telegram.
The relationship with Russia should also play an important role this Thursday at the EU summit in Brussels. For the first time, the new Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is among the heads of state and government. The EU is trying to take a united stance on Moscow, also in the face of the ongoing speculation about a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Because of the shooting of a Georgian in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in August 2019, the Berlin Court of Appeal imposed life imprisonment on a Russian on Wednesday. The verdict speaks of “state terrorism”: The judges are convinced that the now 56-year-old acted on behalf of Russian state agencies. Russia rejects the allegations.
As a consequence, the German government declared two employees of the Russian embassy in Berlin to be “undesirable persons”. This is equivalent to expulsion. Ambassador Sergei Nechayev was summoned to the Foreign Office. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) spoke of a “serious violation of German law and the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany”.
Ambassador Nechayev: “Obviously an unfriendly act.”
Ambassador Nechayev said: “It is an obviously unfriendly act that does not go unrequited.” The federal government had already expelled two embassy employees during the investigation into the “zoo murder” and justified this with a lack of cooperation on the part of Russian authorities. Moscow responded by expelling two German diplomats. It could happen again this time.
The Green politician Jürgen Trittin now expects a massive strain on the relationship. Germany is interested in a better relationship with Russia again, Trittin said Editorial network Germany. “But we also cannot simply shrug our shoulders when people who seek protection from us as asylum seekers become victims of acts of violence on behalf of a foreign state power.”
Relations between Berlin and Moscow have deteriorated continuously since Russia took over the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014. This was also ensured by a cyber attack on the Bundestag in 2015, for which Russian hackers are blamed, the poisoning of the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny and, most recently, the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine.