Germany and Russia exchange expelled diplomats

Germany and Russia mutually expel dozens of diplomats. Berlin was the initiator – according to the German television channel NTV, the German Foreign Ministry on April 21 decided to “reduce the presence of Russian special services” by expelling employees of the Russian embassy from the country. This information was confirmed by the German Foreign Office. The exact number of diplomatic workers sent to Russia remains unknown, but the Russian Foreign Ministry described the expulsion as “massive”. According to RIA Novosti, more than 20 Russian diplomatic workers left Berlin for Russia on April 22. At the end of March, the Focus edition, citing German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock, reported that the German authorities planned to expel about 30 Russian diplomats.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of 34 out of 90 employees of the German mission in Moscow, writes the German publication Bild. According to the statement of the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, more than 20 German diplomatic workers will be expelled. The Russian Foreign Ministry called Berlin’s decision to expel Russian diplomats another manifestation of hostility. “We strongly condemn these actions of Berlin, which continues to defiantly destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations, including their diplomatic dimension,” the Foreign Ministry said in a comment. In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the German side of publicizing this problem through the media through “controlled leaks” of information.

This is not the first time Russian diplomats have been expelled from Germany, says Artyom Sokolov, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMI MGIMO. According to the expert, under the current conditions, such decisions do not require a specific reason, since Russian-German relations continue to collapse and new attacks from the German government should be expected.

The situation with the issuance of visas was not easy even before this expulsion of diplomats, and a new reduction in the diplomatic corps will certainly not improve it, Sokolov believes. At the same time, cultural exchanges at the official level have already been completely suspended.

Berlin’s decision to expel Russian diplomats on a large scale is likely to lead to a further decline in the level of interstate relations. According to the analyst, neither the German Foreign Ministry nor the German government as a whole is ready for a constructive dialogue with Russia. The restoration of relations, if this is discussed in the foreseeable future, will be carried out by people with a different social and political experience than the members of the current German cabinet, sums up Sokolov.

Mutual deportations are another stage in the deterioration of already bad Russian-German relations, says Alexander Kamkin, a researcher at the IMEMO RAS. Separately, it is upsetting that the German authorities leaked information to the media, and the expulsion itself was almost timed to coincide with Victory Day, when German civil activists lay wreaths at the monuments to Soviet soldiers. According to the expert, cultural exchange between Russia and Germany as such no longer exists, joint programs have been reduced to a minimum, and the exchange of students has been almost completely frozen. Moreover, in the ranks of the opposition CDU, a call has already been made for a complete ban on issuing visas to Russian citizens. At the same time, the Russian side, as Kamkin believes, will try to the last not to lower the mutual level of diplomatic missions. Nevertheless, the prospects for Russian-German relations look rather deplorable, given that the two main vectors of dialogue – economics and diplomacy – are in the hands of the anti-Russian Greens, the expert sums up.