The Russian government has announced the blocking of the Russian bank accounts of the Goethe Institute, the leading public body for the dissemination of German culture abroad.
The Goethe Institute has branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk whose accounts are now blocked in retaliation for restrictions imposed on the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has explained.
»It is a proportional response to the German authorities’ blocking of the bank accounts of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin in December 2022,» Zakharova said at a press conference reported by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Russia has warned of the inevitability of these reprisals in response to the German measures, which it considers to be in violation of the agreement on the promotion of cultural activities signed between the two countries on February 4, 2011.
»Berlin instead chooses to ignore our unequivocal warnings. Under these conditions the Goethe Institute’s bank accounts in Russia can only be unblocked if there is a complete and unconditional unblocking of the bank accounts of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin,» Zakharova reiterated.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
