Today’s news / Russia’s House closing down

Russia’s House closing down

The Russian Embassy in Denmark writes on Facebook that Russia’s House will close its activities in Denmark on September 27, according to Jyllands-Posten. Russia’s House is the Danish branch of the state-controlled organisation Rossotrudnichestvo. Since July last year, it has been on the EU sanctions list. The house belongs to the Russian Embassy. The EU justified the imposition of sanctions on Rossotrudnichestvo saying, among other things: “For many years, it has served as an umbrella organisation for a network of Russian compatriots and influence agents.”
     Flemming Splidsboel, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), previously called Russia’s House “the Kremlin’s extended arm” abroad. “Their official purpose is to spread knowledge of Russian culture abroad, but they are part of the embassy, and thus the employees can also play a role in, for example, recruiting agents in Denmark,” says Flemming Splidsboel. The embassy writes that the closure is a result of the Danish authorities’ decision to reduce the number of Russian diplomats in Denmark. /ritzau/