Germany orders 4 out of 5 Russian consulates to be shut down

BERLIN — Germany is revoking the licenses of four of the five Russian consulates in the country, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.

Moscow has been asked to “promptly arrange for the liquidation of the four consulates general in the Federal Republic of Germany and complete it by Dec. 31, 2023, at the latest,” according to the foreign ministry. The move is intended to create “structural and personnel parity” between the two countries, the ministry added.

Germany and Russia have repeatedly expelled each other’s diplomats since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine.

Berlin’s decision was communicated to the Russians on Wednesday, according to Annalena Baerbock’s foreign ministry. One consulate general as well as the Russian embassy will continue to operate.

On Saturday, it was reported that several German state employees would have to leave Russia as Moscow had introduced “a cap on the number of staff at German missions abroad and German intermediary organizations.”

Moscow had limited the number of German state employees allowed in Russia to 350 from June.

As a result, the number of personnel in the German consulates general in Russia is no longer sufficient to provide consular support, the foreign ministry spokesperson said.

He added that operations at three consulates general are being reduced and will be discontinued completely starting in November. The German Embassy in Moscow and the consulate general in St. Petersburg will remain open. This affects German diplomats and local staff as well as the likes of German schools and Goethe Institutes.

The foreign ministry said Moscow had “taken a step of escalation” by limiting the German presence to 350 people and, the ministry spokesperson said, “this unjustified decision forces the German government to make a very significant cut in all areas of its presence in Russia.”