In response to the atrocities against civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, the German government is expelling 40 Russian diplomats. The work of the affected embassy staff is “a threat to those who seek protection from us,” said Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). “We will not tolerate this any longer.” You now have five days to leave Germany.
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The federal government decided to “declare a significant number of members of the Russian embassy to be undesirable people who worked here in Germany every day against our freedom, against the cohesion of our society,” Baerbock explained. This was communicated to the Russian ambassador in the afternoon.
“The pictures from Bucha are evidence of the unbelievable brutality of the Russian leadership and of those who follow its propaganda, of a will to annihilation that transcends all borders,” explained Baerbock. “We have to fear similar pictures from many other places that Russian troops have occupied in Ukraine.”
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Baerbock further explained: “We must oppose this inhumanity with the strength of our freedom and our humanity.” “It must be clear that we must stand up for our freedom and be ready to defend it.”
After the Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv suburb, hundreds of bodies were discovered in Bucha. Ukraine blames Russian troops, who until recently occupied the small town, for the massacre. Moscow denies that.
Faeser: Diplomats work for secret services
According to the federal government, the diplomats who have been declared undesirable all work for their country’s secret services. “We selected 40 people who we assign to the Russian intelligence services,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Monday evening to the German Press Agency. “We have decided that these 40 people must now leave our country as soon as possible,” she added. This is “another consistent step against the Russian leadership, which is waging a horribly brutal war against the Ukrainian civilian population”.
The German security authorities keep a close eye on the intelligence tools used by the Russian government, Faeser said. The aim is to protect Germany against Russian espionage, attempts to exert influence, lies and war propaganda. “We will not allow this criminal war of aggression to be carried out as an information war in Germany,” said the SPD politician.
France is also expelling diplomats, Russia wants to react
Shortly after Germany, France also announced that it wanted to expel Russian diplomats. They endanger national security, said the local foreign ministry. “This step is part of a European initiative.” According to information from ministry circles, 35 Russian diplomats are to leave the country. Russia says it will respond, reports the Interfax news agency, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to the Russian embassy in Berlin, relations between Germany and Russia will continue to “deteriorate”. She wrote on Monday evening in the Messenger service Telegram: “The unjustified reduction in the diplomatic staff of the Russian representations in Germany will narrow the space for maintaining dialogue between our countries, which will lead to a further deterioration in German-Russian relations.”
Federal government uses instrument of international law
The Foreign Office in Berlin made use of the instrument of international law to declare foreign diplomats “persona non grata” (“undesirable person”). Your activity on site will be terminated by notification to your home country. The country of origin is obliged under international law to revoke the “persona non grata”; the diplomat in question has to leave the host country within a certain period of time.
The rights and duties of diplomats are regulated by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR). According to this, the most important prerogative is the immunity of a diplomat. If he is declared “persona non grata”, the host country can revoke the immunity at the end of the departure period.
According to the Federal Foreign Office, specific misconduct on the part of the diplomatic staff is not a prerequisite for the declaration of “persona non grata”. Rather, this step is entirely at the discretion of the host country and does not have to be justified.
In the previous week, several partner countries had already expelled Russian diplomats – including the USA, the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Belgium. (AFP, dpa)
