Germany expects Russia to expel German diplomats, teachers, cultural staff

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Russia will start expelling German diplomats, teachers and employees of German cultural institutions next month. The move will further enhance tensions between the two countries that have already had very fraught ties since Russia invaded Ukraine early last year. The German foreign ministry sharply criticized Russia’s move on Saturday, calling the upcoming expulsions a “unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision.” The expulsion will affect several hundred German state employees, including teachers and staff at the Goethe Institute, which promotes German culture and language abroad, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. It comes in reaction to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Germany earlier this year.