The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Netherlands will not receive visitors after staff reduction

The Russian Embassy in the Netherlands announced that from February 20 it will stop accepting visitors on the basis of completed records. This is due to the decision of the Dutch authorities to reduce the staff of the diplomatic mission.

The Embassy also stops receiving visitors on pension issues and issuing certificates for returning to Russia. The embassy will only issue passports and driver’s licenses.

The decision of the Netherlands the day before, on February 18, was announced in a statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country, Wopke Hoekstra. The authorities decided to close their consulate in St. Petersburg, the trade mission in Amsterdam and reduce the number of Russian diplomats in The Hague.

Some Russian diplomats will have to leave the Netherlands within two weeks. The department explained that they would limit the number of diplomats at the Russian embassy in The Hague to match the number of diplomats at the Dutch embassy in Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry promised to take retaliatory measures.

Lusine Balasyan