Russia Orders German Consulate in St Petersburg to Close by Sept. 18

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said it has revoked the operating permit for Germany’s consulate general in the city of St Petersburg and that the office must be closed by September 18 at the latest.

The ministry also said all employees of the German consulate general in St Petersburg must leave Russian territory by that date. According to the statement, German cultural centres, including the Goethe-Institut, have also been ordered to stop their activities in Russia, and their staff must leave the country by September 13.

In its statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused Germany of being responsible for rising tensions in bilateral relations and said Berlin had launched a new round of tensions. According to the ministry, official notes concerning the closure of the German consulate general in St Petersburg and the Goethe cultural centres were handed to the head of Germany’s diplomatic mission in Moscow.

Moscow said the move was in response to the closure of Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and the “Russian House of Science and Culture” in Berlin. St Petersburg is Russia’s second-largest city and one of the country’s important diplomatic and cultural centres.