The Russian Embassy in Denmark announced the suspension of the work of the consular section.
From September 6, the acceptance of applications and documents for all consular issues, including the issuance of passports, notarial acts and visas, will be stopped. Completed documents will be issued until September 25.
The suspension of the work of the consular department at the Russian embassy was explained by “an unprecedented decision by the Danish authorities to reduce the number of Russian diplomatic workers in Denmark.”
On September 1, the Danish Foreign Ministry announced a reduction in the staff of the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen to 25 people. After the reduction, the process of which should be completed by September 29, 2023, the Russian embassy should remain five diplomats and twenty administrative and technical employees.
“For a long period, Denmark and Russia negotiated the issuance of visas to Danish employees of the Danish Embassy in Moscow in order to maintain the full functioning of the embassies in Denmark and Russia. These negotiations did not produce any results, since the Russian side repeatedly tried to include visa requests for employees of the Russian intelligence,” the Danish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In April 2022, Denmark announced the expulsion of 15 Russian diplomats. The country’s Foreign Ministry made this decision after reports of war crimes by the Russian army in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. For the same reason, representatives of the Russian embassies were expelled by Italy, Sweden, Spain, Japan and a number of other countries.