The head of the Ministry of Culture of Germany spoke out against the boycott of Russian culture

State Minister for Cultural Affairs of Germany Claudia Roth considers it wrong to boycott Russian culture in response to the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the Kommersant newspaper reports.

At the same time, Roth admitted in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung that there is now “great uncertainty” about how to relate to Russian culture.

“I think that a boycott is completely wrong, because often Russian artists are trying to save the last spaces of freedom. And there is such a great Russian culture, be it music, be it literature, be it Anton Chekhov. I will not allow (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to take Chekhov away from me,” the minister stressed.

We also recall that on May 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the 30th Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (SVOP), said that Western countries have abandoned all the rules of decency and are practicing any actions against Russia, including “outright robbery”.

According to the minister, Western countries have thrown aside political correctness and legal norms, openly moving to a “culture of the abolition of everything Russian.” “Any hostile actions against our country are allowed, including outright robbery,” Lavrov said.

He stated that Russian cultural figures, athletes, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens are being harassed in the West, and there was no such mass expulsion of diplomats, in his words, “even in the darkest years of the Cold War.” He clarified that now the diplomatic service has been transferred to a special regime necessary to fulfill the tasks of protecting national interests.