By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Moscow has asked hundreds of German civil servants working in the education and cultural sectors to leave Russia, a decision the Kremlin says is aimed at forcing Germany to reduce its diplomatic staff and presence at public institutions from beginning of June, a source told AFP on Saturday.
The public institutions include, Goethe Institute Cultural Organisation and the German school in Moscow.
The source confirmed a report in the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which described it as a “diplomatic declaration of war by Moscow” in Berlin.
“This is a unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision,” the German foreign ministry said in a statement.
Before Russia made its decision to invade Ukraine in February last year, Germany was close economic partner with Moscow.
Germany along with other western alies has since moved away from Moscow, financially and militarily supporting Kyiv in the conflict.
According to German security services, since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian espionage in Germany has grown at a rate rarely equalled in recent years.
In mid-April, Germany expelled a number of Russian diplomats “to reduce the presence of intelligence services” which prompted a tit-for-tat response from Moscow which booted out some 20 German embassy staff.
The Russian foreign ministry in April, set a ceiling for the number of German diplomats and representatives of public organisations allowed to stay in Russia, the German foreign ministry said.
“This limit set by Russia from the beginning of June implies major cuts in all areas of (Germany’s) presence in Russia,” the source said.
The ministry did not give a figure for the number of people affected, but a government source said the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily report of several hundred people affected was “correct”.
German authorities have tried in recent weeks to get the Russian ministry to reverse its decision, but without success, the paper said.
As a result, German officials, diplomatic and consular staff, but especially those working in culture and education, will be required to pack their bags in the coming days.
