Russia to close Goethe-Institut offices - Lavrov

Russia will close the Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg in response to the German authorities’ closure of the Russian House in Berlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a lecture organized by the Znanie (Knowledge) Society on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

"Well, of course they will be closed after our cultural center was expelled from there [from Berlin]," Lavrov said.

He went on to say that Germany made the decision to close the Russian House in Berlin and the Consulate General in Bonn under the false pretext that the drone that crashed in Leipzig was allegedly Russian.

On September 1, the German government officially blamed Russia for the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport and announced countermeasures. In particular, it decided to close the Russian Consulate General in Bonn on September 18. Other measures include terminating the agreement on the activities of the Russian House in Berlin and tightening entry controls for Russian citizens.