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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Culture & Society

Russia to Close Goethe-Institut Branches After Germany Shuts Russian Cultural Center

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg would close after Germany shut the Russian House in Berlin.
  • The dispute followed Germany’s accusation that Russia attempted a drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, which Moscow denies.
  • Russia has also threatened possible further measures, including closing Germany’s consulate general in St. Petersburg.

Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg are set to close, in what Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described as the end of Germany’s cultural presence in Russia.

Lavrov said the closures followed Berlin’s decision to shut the Russian House cultural center in Berlin and the Russian consulate in Bonn after Germany blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport. “Of course they will be closed after our cultural center was expelled from there,” he said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

Of course they will be closed after our cultural center was expelled from there.

· Sergey LavrovThe Russian foreign minister explained why Russia would close Goethe-Institut branches.

According to Russian state news agency TASS, Lavrov said Germany “deliberately took this step” and understood that it would end the Goethe-Institut’s operations in Russia. He added that the centers had stayed open “despite all the Ukrainian complications in our relations with the West.”

They deliberately took this step, they could not have failed to understand, which means the end of their cultural presence in Russia.

· Sergey LavrovLavrov described the consequences of Germany’s decision to close the Russian House in Berlin.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Germany’s charge d’affaires in Moscow on Wednesday to protest what it called anti-Russian actions and statements by Germany’s leadership. President Vladimir Putin has accused Germany of planting evidence to blame Moscow for the explosives-laden drone. Russia has also warned that it could take additional measures, possibly including the closure of Germany’s consulate general in St. Petersburg.

The Goethe-Institut opened its first Russian branch in Moscow in 1992, shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed. The organization operates in about 100 countries, promoting German-language study and providing information about German culture and society. It is among the last German institutions still operating in Russia. Moscow has designated several foreign organizations as “undesirable,” effectively banning them from operating, and ordered the British Council to close in 2018 after a diplomatic dispute with the United Kingdom.

despite all the Ukrainian complications in our relations with the West.

· Sergey LavrovLavrov said the Goethe-Institut centers had remained open despite tensions with Western countries.
About this summary

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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