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Russian diplomats in Germany facing 'unprecedented' challenges — Russian ambassador

According to Sergey Nechayev, real diplomacy is now being replaced by "megaphone diplomacy"

BERLIN, December 4. /TASS/. Russian diplomats are facing challenges like never before in Germany, as the current climate is worse than during the Cold War, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev said.

"What we are seeing now is absolutely unprecedented. We have never had to face such challenges in our diplomatic work, even during the most difficult periods of the Cold War," he said in an interview with the Berliner Telegraph, a Russian-language magazine.

According to the Russian ambassador, real diplomacy is now being replaced by "megaphone diplomacy," where issues that require a thorough and well-balanced analysis "become the object of inept public discussions, unverified media publications and are used by politicians in their selfish interests."

He noted that many of Russia’s old partners refrain from communicating with the embassy for fear of possible reprisals. "Even attending a reception at the embassy may be used as a pretext for media harassment and dismissal," Nechayev lamented.

Apart from that, in his words, security threats, "including acts of vandalism against Russian foreign missions," have increased considerably. Despite this, the German police are doing their job professionally, he added.