Germany Shuts Russian Consulate over Drone Attack

The German government has ordered the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and announced other measures against Moscow following what it described as a Russian “hybrid attack” involving drones at Leipzig Airport.

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, announced the measures at a joint press conference with the country’s Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, on Tuesday.

Wadephul accused Russia of engaging in a series of activities aimed at destabilising and intimidating Germany and other European countries.

“The dangerous conduct of the Russian Federation described just now is part of a long series of attempts to destabilise, spread disinformation, threaten, sabotage and show aggression towards Europe,” Wadephul said in a statement made available to our correspondent on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, Germany is no exception here. Russia’s leadership is treating our country with blatant hostility,” he added.

The minister, however, said Germany did not want its relations with Russia to deteriorate further, noting that the government had repeatedly called for an end to the war in Ukraine and the restoration of peace in Europe.

“However, this requires a minimum level of willingness to do so on the part of the Russians. We must acknowledge that Russia is displaying no willingness to compromise,” he said.

Wadephul said the attempted attack in Leipzig showed that the Russian leadership had made “a conscious decision to inflict further significant damage on our bilateral relations, which are already under tremendous strain.”

He said Germany would respond to the incident while working with its partners in NATO and the European Union.