To outsiders, it may seem like an ordinary meeting place for Russian expats.
But German authorities are under growing pressure to close down the Russian House, amid concerns it is merely a front for Kremlin spies and propaganda purposes.
A senior figure in Germany’s opposition CDU party has warned that the centre is a front for “totalitarian” propaganda, and suspects it could be evading EU sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
It could additionally serve as a “hub” for Russian agents according to Roderich Kiesewetter, the CDU’s crisis prevention spokesman and a former general staff officer of the Bundeswehr.
I am shocked. Shocked, I say!
If there is evidence they are breaking the law, raid them and find out. If this is just Trump-esque accusations stfu, the truth is nasty enough already.
Yeah, with CDU you can’t really know for sure.
But I feel like a “Russian house” in Berlin would to well to be outspoken against Russian war crimes, for good measure. If it’s a place for patriotic russians living in Berlin to drool over topless pictures of Putin, they can honestly fuck off anyway.
It’s the same with the Confucius Institutes across the world. The teaching material comes straight from the CCP.