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Less Russian-Germans leave for Germany, some get back

Over the past year, 50 families have returned from Germany in the Altai region, where about 80,000 Russian-Germans live

BARNAUL, October 26 (Itar-Tass) — The number of the so-called Russian-Germans willing to leave for Germany has sizably dropped over the recent years, and some even get back to Russia, German Consul General Neithart Hoefer-Wissing said at a meeting with reporters in Barnaul on Wednesday.

Over the past year, 50 families have returned from Germany in the Altai region, where about 80,000 Russian-Germans live. “I know cases when people give up the German citizenship to live in Russia. Migration declines. Germans know that they have good chances here as well. Besides, it has become easy to travel between Russia and Germany,” the top German diplomat said.

According to him, about three million Russian-Germans live in Germany at the moment, including those who were born already in Germany.

Neithart Hoefer-Wissing said the German government cuts financial support for Russian-Germans living in Russia. “The number of Germans decreases, and our financial possibilities reduce. However, we want to support Germans there where they live. For example, we seek to support the spread of the German language,” the consul general said.