Sergey Nechaev said Russia’s remaining diplomatic mission in the country is in Berlin, making consular services less accessible to residents of western regions.
The closure of Russia’s Consulate General in Bonn will make consular and legal services more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Russians living in Germany, Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechaev told RIA Novosti. He described the impact as “extremely negative.”
After the Bonn consulate shut, the embassy in Berlin remained Russia’s only official representation in Germany, Nechaev said. Residents of western regions will have to travel to the capital to obtain a passport or arrange a power of attorney; not everyone can afford such a trip, he said.
Germany announced the consulate’s closure on Sept. 1, and it stopped operating on Sept. 18. Berlin also terminated an agreement concerning the Russian House cultural center. Moscow responded by closing Goethe cultural centers in Russia and ordering their employees to leave by Sept. 13. The German Consulate General in St. Petersburg also ceased operations on Sept. 18.