Russia Shuts 3 Goethe-Institut Centers After Germany Closed Berlin Cultural Hub
Updated
Updated · The Moscow Times · Sep 3
Russia Shuts 3 Goethe-Institut Centers After Germany Closed Berlin Cultural Hub
3 articles · Updated · The Moscow Times · Sep 3
Summary
Sergei Lavrov said Russia will close Goethe-Institut centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, calling it retaliation after Germany shut the Russian cultural center in Berlin.
Germany also ordered the Russian consulate in Bonn closed after what it described as an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport that it blamed on Moscow.
Vladimir Putin this week rejected that accusation, saying Germany had planted evidence to pin the airport incident on Russia.
The closures deepen a cultural and diplomatic rupture: Lavrov said the institutes had remained open despite strains over Ukraine, and Russia's first Goethe-Institut opened in Moscow in 1992.