The Russian house is located on Fredericstrass at the centrally German capital center. As a throw for an era of friendly German-Russian relations, it is a matter of fierce disagreement and long has a bone of dispute in Berlin. A heavy seven -storey building in an area of about 30,000 square meters was opened in 1984.
At that time, during the days of East German state, its role was to celebrate friendship with the Soviet Union through music, film screening and book reading. It even had its own small book shop.
Today’s administrators still maintain that it is a place to celebrate friendship between the two countries: “Russian Ghar Berlin has a cultural embassy of Russia in his heart,” according to the website of the Russian Embassy.
But a lot of critics say that the events there, which estimates the Russian House that 200,000 visitors are attracted in a year, mainly serve as Vladimir Putin’s promotion for Russia.
Sales of soap -size bars
Berlin Media Outlets has repeatedly reported events in in-house cinema, for example, a Holocaust film shown in which Ukrainian citizens were depicted as Nazis. And if Robin Wagner, a member of the Bundestag for the Green Party, is considered, the Russian house also sells soap for children in the shape of a tank. Wagner told DW: “This is the time when we agreed that it is not a mutual cultural exchange, but was campaigning in Russian Germany.”
This is why Wagner feels that this is a particularly time to focus on bizarre details: the property on Fredericstrass is related to Germany, and the building is still run by the Russian federal agency “Rosotrudinisto”. In English, it is a federal agency for the Commonwealth of independent states, compatriots living abroad and international human cooperation.
Rossotrudnichestvo, whose primary purpose is to promote Russian language abroad, currently has 73 similar institutions in 62 countries worldwide, including one in Berlin.
Since 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the agency has been on the European Union’s approval list. At that time, the European Union justified that the agency’s target was to “consolidate” against the public perception of the Ukrainian regions occupied as Russian. The Director and Deputy Director, the statement said, clearly expressed his support for the aggression of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
German property tax for Russian state campaigning?
However, really, the German federal federal government will now have to pay € 70,000 ($ 81.193) in property taxes. It has stems from a long-time agreement under Germany and Russia, which recognized each other’s cultural works. Wagner wants to ensure that this amount is deducted from upcoming budget talks.
Wagner had the idea first a year ago, but in the chaotic upheaval of the coalition government between the Center-Leam Social Democratic Party, Green Party and Neolithic Free Democratic Party (FDP), no budget was finalized. Wagner’s argument for a possible cut: The House has lost its original objective, that is, to promote mutual cultural exchange: “Russia continues to grow. And it is making the situation worse for this mutual cultural agreement, promoting the exchange of culture and science.”
Wagner contacted the new federal government on the matter. The response was somewhat strange: “With respect to the House located on the property, which is owned by the Russian Federation, the Federal Republic of Germany pays property tax for the Russian Federation at the original of legal obligations under bilateral German-Russian agriculture on property issues related to the 2013 cultural institutions.” In this context, before an agreement, reached an agreement.
German government shuts down the Goethe Institute
Will it lead the cold of the finds, but is sure. The German Foreign Office has reiterated that employees of institutions have diplomatic status in Germany. It is an open secret that the German government is moving away from the open struggle at the Russian house as it is feared that the Russian government may respond by closing the Goethe institute in Moscow.
The green politician Wagner still vowes to continue campaigning for his closure: “I believe that there is no future as a cultural intermediary of the Russian cultural center. If someone wants to be seriously associated with Russian culture, which I will welcome social places being run by those who are run by those people and live here in Germany, because they can no longer express their culture.”
However, for some time, the Russian house plans to continue hosting events located on one of the most famous roads in the German capital, at the center of Berlin.
This article was original in German.
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