Greens call for closure of Berlin's Russian House

DW (English)

Germany's Green Party is calling for the closure of Berlin's Russian House, the largest Russian cultural center in Europe. Critics accuse the Russian institution of disseminating anti-Ukrainian propaganda, but it maintains that its activities are legal and purely cultural.

Transcript

00:00This huge building in a prime location in central Berlin is the property of the Russian Federation.

00:07It's the Russian House of Science and Culture, the largest of its kind in Europe.

00:13The Russian state agency that runs the center has been under EU sanctions since 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine.

00:21Critics say it's being weaponized as a propaganda tool in the war against Ukraine.

00:27Activists from the Ukrainian NGO Viche have held repeated demonstrations in front of the building.

00:36Many in Berlin don't know that such big space is being given to the Russian Federation to basically spread propaganda.

00:44They are showing like movies, documentary movies about the Second World War,

00:48where they started that Soviet Union was fighting Nazis back then,

00:54and now Russia again fighting Nazis because Zelensky is Nazi.

00:59And it has also recently emerged that the German government is funding the property tax bill

01:04using 70,000 euros of taxpayers' money as part of an arrangement stemming from a 2013 German-Russian cultural agreement.

01:13Now Germany's Greens are demanding the Russian House be closed.

01:20The time has come for us to admit that there isn't any mutual cultural exchange going on here,

01:27but that Russian war propaganda is being spread in Germany.

01:31For example, through the sale of kids soap in the shape of tanks and rifles,

01:35the sale of books in the bookstore, and events and movies that clearly pursue a certain narrative,

01:40including a certain image of Ukraine.

01:44The Russian House director rejects German charges that the Russian House is a temple of propaganda,

01:50and says none of its critics have even been inside to talk to its staff.

01:55And that issue isn't about the building's contents, but rather its premium location.

02:01He insists the center is doing nothing illegal,

02:05but is often forced to call in law enforcement because of demonstrators.

02:10When protesters set off sirens on the street, we call the police.

02:19Or when people are verbally harassed entering or leaving the building,

02:25often they themselves call the police.

02:29During the interview, Pavel Izvolsky spoke of peace, of cooperation, of cultural ties.

02:38But one word he carefully avoided – war.

02:42Sorry, I reviewed.

02:43How important is that we are.

02:56Anyone saving up, not up again?

02:57There's no history that wasn't doin' what we can say about.

02:59To where you have a school called occupancy.

03:01So, by Stephen, when we do a state protest,

03:04and we're not voting for transparency,

03:07we don't haveبtight running to

03:07or bele Boris,

03:08but you know the喔.

03:09akis are just won.

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