Russia to close Goethe Institutes but says it will maintain diplomatic ties with Germany

Russia plans to close the Goethe Institutes operating in the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, presenting the move as a direct response to Germany’s planned closure of the Russian House in Berlin.

“Of course they will be closed after our cultural center was expelled from there, in Berlin,” Lavrov said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, according to Interfax. He said Germany was knowingly accepting that its action against the Russian House would mean the end of Germany’s cultural presence in the Russian Federation.

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

Germany announced the closure after an explosive-laden drone was found at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Berlin blamed Moscow for the attempted attack and imposed punitive measures. Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the German embassy’s chargé d’affaires to protest what it called anti-Russian actions and statements by the German leadership.

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I regret that Russia has taken this step and will close the Goethe-Institut.

The Goethe-Institut has a main branch in Moscow as well as cultural centers in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Despite tensions with the West over Russia’s war against Ukraine, the institute had continued operating and was among the last German institutions still active in Russia.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he regretted Russia’s decision. “The Goethe-Institut also performed an important function as a cultural bridge in Russia, and we would have been willing to continue that,” he said.

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The Goethe-Institut also performed an important function as a cultural bridge in Russia, and we would have been willing to continue that.

Despite the escalating measures, Moscow said it would maintain diplomatic relations at their current level. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television that Russia would not be the initiator of a downgrade, while warning that Germany could still take what he called “absurd steps.”

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Russia itself will not be the initiator of a downgrade in diplomatic relations.