MOSCOW/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – According to its own statements, the Russian embassy in Berlin has received hundreds of complaints from compatriots in Germany in the past three days alone, who have complained about threats and hate mail. Among other things, it is about damaging cars with Russian license plates, the embassy announced on Saturday. Verbal abuse, hate mail, physical abuse and bullying among students were also reported. “We consider any manifestations of discrimination and violations of the rights of our citizens and the Russian-speaking population in Germany to be unacceptable.”
According to the Interfax agency, Ambassador Sergey Nechayev sent a note to the Federal Foreign Office in which he criticized the alleged discrimination against Russian compatriots in Germany. He called for “strong signals from the German government” to the authorities in the federal states, cities and municipalities “to end this discrimination”.
The Foreign Office confirmed on Saturday that the ministry was “aware” of this note. A spokesman only referred to a recent Twitter post by Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), in which she sharply criticized hostilities against Russian or Belarusian citizens. Anyone who attacks people from Belarus or Russia in Germany is also attacking “the basic principles of our coexistence,” Baerbock said there.
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz was also critical of such incidents. Germans from Russia and Russian citizens living in Germany are “currently exposed to unjustified hostility,” Merz wrote in an open letter to the groups concerned, which has been posted on his Twitter account since Friday. “Our enemy is neither the Russian people nor the people who feel connected to them,” it said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the war, the CDU leader said