Politiker fordern wegen Spionageverdachts Schließung von Russischem Haus in Berlin
www.spiegel.de
Kultureinrichtung oder Spionagezentrale? Das Auswärtige Amt ist noch zurückhaltend, doch parteiübergreifend fordern Politiker ein härteres Vorgehen gegen das Russische Haus in Berlin. Deutschland strahle mit der Duldung »Schwäche pur« aus.

Germany’s Federal Foreign Office is still cautious, but politicians across the political spectrum are calling for tougher action against the Russian House in Berlin. With its tolerance, Germany is exuding “pure weakness”, they say.

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[Original link in German, this is a paraphrased automated translation with minimal edits.]

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Several German politicians are calling for the closure of the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin-Mitte following new accusations that it is a spy centre.

“This house is a symbol of our weakness and of Russian influence,” the CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter told the broadcaster Welt TV.

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“We are not closing it because, conversely, we believe that the Goethe-Instituts in Russia will then be closed. But: So what? Then they’ll just be closed.”

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A spokesman for the German Federal Foreign Office referred to the bilateral agreements on “property matters” that exist between Germany and Russia. These also concern the Goethe-Institut in Moscow. Both institutions are therefore “directly linked to each other”.

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The investigative team of [public broadcaster] WDR and the [daily newspaper] “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported last week on an assessment by the French Ministry of the Interior. It states that the Russian House is “used as a cover by the Russian secret services”.

Kiesewetter emphasised that the facility’s energy consumption is considerably higher than it would be for the 100 people who live there. “The cultural offering is strange, but because the electricity consumption is also so high, we assume that there is technically complex equipment there, and that people are accommodated there who also have to be accommodated there in the Russian sense,” said the CDU politician.

The Chair of the European Parliament’s Defence Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), spoke in favour of closing the facility. “In the middle of Berlin, I’ll say it quite clearly, sits the enemy of freedom – and we’re watching. And that is unbearable,” she told Die Welt.

The defence policy spokeswoman for the Green Party parliamentary group, Sara Nanni, told the broadcaster: "We are letting Russia walk all over us."One consequence that Germany could take, according to her, would be to close the Russian House. What Germany is currently projecting is “pure weakness”, according to the Green Party politician.

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  • tardigrade@scribe.disroot.orgOPEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    In 2023, after the EU imposed sanctions on Rossotrudnichestvo, the Russian organization that runs Russian Houses in 71 countries.

    Following the sanctions, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office launched a criminal probe to determine whether Russian House’s activities violated the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act, as several reports such as the one by the Kyiv Independent says,

    But prosecutors were forced to close the investigation into Pavel Izvolsky, Berlin’s Russian House director - because he had diplomatic immunity …

    It’s a common practice for the heads of the Russian Houses to be employed at the Russian embassy. Their deputies can also be diplomats, according to the agreements with Moldova, Germany, and the U.S.

    That means diplomatic immunity protects them from arrest and prosecution in the host country.

    Therefore, despite European Union sanctions against their parent entity, Russian House continues its activities in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Luxemburg, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Chisinau, Bratislava, and other capitals.

    It’s time that the EU wakes up and closes these institutions.