Germany confirms the expulsion from Russia of hundreds of government employees from Berlin

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BERLIN, 27 May. (DPA/EP) –

The German government has confirmed this Saturday that hundreds of its employees in Russia will have to leave the country after the entry into force of the limit on foreign personnel introduced by the Russian Foreign Ministry in response to Berlin’s decision to expel several intelligence officers. russians.

“This limit, established by Russia since the beginning of June, requires a significant cut in all areas of our presence in Russia,” the Ministry explained, in a statement in which it described the Russian decision as “unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible.” , without specifying the number of employees affected.

The Russian government’s foreign spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, described Berlin’s reaction as “a new German lie” and limited herself to explaining that Russia had reacted to German measures of a “Russophobic” nature.

According to the newspaper ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’, the measure affects approximately “a number of three digits, between low and medium” of employees of the German Government, but above all cultural mediators such as the teachers of the German school in Moscow and a considerable number of the staff of the cultural organization Goethe Institute.

“In view of this unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision, the Federal Government is now concerned with ensuring a minimum presence of intermediaries in Russia and at the same time maintaining a diplomatic presence,” the German Foreign Ministry summarized.