The staffing of the Russian Embassy must be reduced

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday to the Russian Ambassador, Vladimir Barbin, that the staffing at the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen must be reduced to match the level of the Danish Embassy in Moscow.

Specifically, this means a cap of 5 diplomats and 20 administrative and technical personnel at the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen.

Denmark and Russia have engaged in lengthy negotiations regarding visas for employees at the Danish Embassy in Moscow, with the goal of maintaining well-functioning embassies in both Denmark and Russia. These negotiations have not yielded results due to repeated Russian attempts to include visa requests for Russian intelligence officers as part of these discussions.

The decision to establish parity in the size of the two embassies entails that the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen must reduce its current staffing. This reduction must be completed by no later than September 29th.