Russia to close Goethe-Institut in response to Germany’s decision to shut down Russian House in Berlin
Russian branches of Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural center will close, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum.
“Of course they will be closed after our cultural center was kicked out of there,” Lavrov said.
He said German authorities, who are taking measures against Russia over the Leipzig Airport sabotage, are “consciously taking a step that unambiguously means the end of their cultural presence in the Russian Federation.”
The Goethe-Institut, a German non-governmental organization that promotes the German language and international cultural cooperation, operates three branches in Russia — in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk. The oldest, in Moscow, opened on October 8, 1992. Russians could also take German language exams there.
Germany blamed Russia for a sabotage attempt discovered in early August, when a drone rigged with explosives was found near a Ukrainian transport plane at Leipzig Airport. On September 1, Germany responded with retaliatory measures, closing Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and the “Russian House” in Berlin and tightening entry controls for Russian nationals.
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