Berlin is using EU sanctions as a pretext to harass Russians, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said
The Russian Foreign Ministry has advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to Germany, warning that they could face persecution there based on their nationality.
During a briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova highlighted repeated incidents in which Russians were subjected to “unjustified harassment” by German authorities under the guise of EU sanctions imposed over the Ukraine conflict.
The restrictions, she noted, extend even to goods purchased for personal use within the bloc, leading German customs officials to seize items from Russian citizens as they depart the country. Purchases exceeding $300 (€353) are affected. As a result, people are not only being “robbed in broad daylight,” but also miss their flights due to bureaucratic delays and are forced to buy new tickets, Zakharova added.
Moscow addressed the German authorities regarding these incidents but received no reply, the spokeswoman mentioned.
Public figures, such as Sergey Semak, the head coach of Zenit St. Petersburg football club, have also been mistreated, Zakharova stated.
Earlier this month, Anna Semak, the wife of the former PSG player, complained on social media that she and her husband had to pay a hefty fine for a pair of shoes, glasses, and a scarf they purchased in Germany at a Munich airport, while the items were subsequently taken from them.
“We strongly urge citizens of our country to refrain from traveling to Germany unless absolutely necessary,” Zakharova said.
According to the spokeswoman, Germany has been “de facto transformed into a ‘lawless territory’ for people of a certain nationality – in this case, people from Russia… The German law enforcement officers have become punishers, pursuing Russians with maniacal persistence. They bully them and do not even hide this fact.”
Germany has been Ukraine’s main backer in the EU since the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, providing the country with almost €44 billion ($52 billion) in aid. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly called Moscow a threat to Berlin and the entire bloc.
The Russian authorities reject claims of harboring any aggressive plans against the EU, stating they are only being made by Western politicians to distract the public from domestic problems and justify increased military spending.