Germany's consulatein the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea will close starting Thursday, according to an official statement on its website, which did not give a reason for the closure."From now on, the Consulate General in St.
Petersburg is responsible for consular and passport matters in the district of the Consulate General in Kaliningrad, while the Visa Office of the Embassy in Moscow is exclusively responsible for processing visa matters," read the statement.Four out of Germanys five consulates in Russia were closed in May as Berlin tried to reduce the number of government employees in the country to 350.
The German Foreign Ministry said this number would make it difficult for consulates to continue their regular operations.Following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year, Germany, along with other European countries, expelled dozens of Russian diplomats.In 2021, Germany declared an employee of the Russian consulate in Munich persona non grata, and Der Spiegel allegedthat he was working as a spy for Russias foreign intelligence service.