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Russia will close Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg in response to Germany’s decision to shut down the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.
“The Germans have branches of the Goethe-Institut here,” Lavrov said, according to state news agency TASS.
“Of course, they’ll be closed once our cultural center has been forced out over there,” he added.
Speaking at a lecture organized by the Znanie Society on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Lavrov also rejected Russia’s involvement in a drone incident at Leipzig Airport in Germany in early August.
He said German authorities based their decision on an assumption that the drone resembled those used by Russia.
“There are Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg. Of course, they will be closed after our cultural center was expelled from there,” Lavrov said.
“Otherwise, we would not respect ourselves,” he added.
Lavrov said Germany’s decision marked the end of its cultural presence in Russia, which had continued despite deteriorating relations over Ukraine.
The German government announced Sept. 1 that it would terminate the agreement governing the activities of the Russian House in Berlin following the drone incident at Leipzig Airport.
Germany attributed responsibility for the drone incident to Russia.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin rejected the accusation, describing the incident as a provocation and saying Germany’s measures represented a serious escalation in bilateral relations.
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