{"id":7446,"date":"2023-05-31T14:14:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T13:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=7446"},"modified":"2023-05-31T14:27:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T13:27:15","slug":"germany-orders-to-close-four-russian-consulates-in-a-responsive-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/diplomatic-world\/germany-orders-to-close-four-russian-consulates-in-a-responsive-move\/2023\/05\/31\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany orders to close four Russian consulates in a responsive move"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERLIN<\/span> (AP)<\/span> –<\/span> The<\/span> German<\/span> government<\/span> asks Russia<\/span> to<\/span> close<\/span> four<\/span> of<\/span> its<\/span> five<\/span> consulates<\/span> in<\/span> Germany<\/span> after<\/span> Russia<\/span> imposed<\/span> a<\/span> cap<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> staff<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> German<\/span> embassy<\/span> and<\/span> related<\/span> facilities<\/span> there.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span>Foreign<\/span> Ministry<\/span> spokesman<\/span> Christopher<\/span> Berger<\/span> told<\/span> reporters<\/span> in<\/span> Berlin<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> measures<\/span> were<\/span> aimed<\/span> at<\/span> creating<\/span> \u201cparity of personnel and structures\u201d\u00a0between<\/span> the<\/span> two<\/span> countries.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> Russian<\/span> government<\/span> recently<\/span> announced<\/span> a<\/span> limit<\/span> of<\/span> 350<\/span> German<\/span> government<\/span> employees,<\/span> including<\/span> those<\/span> working<\/span> at<\/span> cultural<\/span> institutions<\/span> and<\/span> schools,<\/span> can<\/span> stay<\/span> in<\/span> Russia.<\/span> Bulger<\/span> said<\/span> this<\/span> means<\/span> Germany<\/span> will<\/span> have<\/span> to<\/span> close<\/span> its<\/span> consulates<\/span> general<\/span> in<\/span> Yekaterinburg,<\/span> Novosibirsk<\/span> and<\/span> Kaliningrad<\/span> by<\/span> November.<\/span> According<\/span> to<\/span> him,<\/span> only<\/span> the<\/span> embassy<\/span> in<\/span> Moscow<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> consulate<\/span> general<\/span> in<\/span> St.<\/span> Petersburg<\/span> will<\/span> remain<\/span> open.<\/span> He<\/span> said<\/span> Russia<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> allowed<\/span> to<\/span> continue<\/span> operating<\/span> its<\/span> embassy<\/span> in<\/span> Berlin<\/span> and<\/span> another<\/span> consulate<\/span> general<\/span> after<\/span> the<\/span> end<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> year.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> move<\/span> reflects<\/span> a<\/span> new<\/span> low<\/span> in<\/span> relations<\/span> between<\/span> Moscow<\/span> and<\/span> Berlin<\/span> since<\/span> Russia’s<\/span> attack<\/span> on<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> in<\/span> February<\/span> 2022.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Berger<\/span> said<\/span> the<\/span> move<\/span> was<\/span> regrettable,<\/span> but<\/span> added<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> war<\/span> “only<\/span> removed<\/span> the<\/span> basis”<\/span> for<\/span> many<\/span> bilateral<\/span> activities<\/span> between<\/span> the<\/span> two<\/span> countries.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“But<\/span> it<\/span> was<\/span> the<\/span> actions<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Russian<\/span> side<\/span> that<\/span> got<\/span> us<\/span> into<\/span> this<\/span> situation,”<\/span> he<\/span> said.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Berger<\/span> said<\/span> Germany’s<\/span> decision<\/span> to<\/span> concentrate<\/span> its<\/span> remaining<\/span> personnel<\/span> in<\/span> its<\/span> embassies<\/span> and<\/span> main<\/span> consulates<\/span> “preserves<\/span> its<\/span> diplomatic<\/span> presence<\/span> in<\/span> Russia.”<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BERLIN (AP) – The German government asks Russia to close four of its five consulates in Germany after Russia imposed a cap on the number of staff at the German embassy and related facilities there. Foreign Ministry spokesman Christopher Berger told reporters in Berlin that the measures were aimed at creating \u201cparity of personnel and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[24,26,276,2480],"tags":[496,4385,4426,5690,5691,5692,5693],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/download-3-2.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7449,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446\/revisions\/7449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}