Danish authorities have threatened to seize the property of the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen, Russia’s Ambassador to Denmark told state media on Tuesday.
“Copenhagen’s obsessive drive for confrontation with Moscow… makes it impossible for us to maintain normal relations with Denmark,” Ambassador Vladimir Barbin was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency TASS.
Barbin said that obtaining and renewing accreditation for diplomatic staff, accessing banking services and carrying out repairs at the embassy “has become extremely difficult.”
In 2023, the Danish Foreign Ministry ordered Russia to reduce the number of staff working at its embassy in Copenhagen. That move came after Denmark was forced to reduce its own staff numbers at its Moscow embassy following failed talks on issuing visas to Danish diplomatic workers.
As a result of those personnel cuts, Russia was forced to close its trade mission in Copenhagen.
Ambassador Barbin said Tuesday that Denmark’s “repressive decisions” were restricting the activities of the Russian Science and Culture Center.
“Furthermore, the Copenhagen mayor’s office is threatening to reclaim the land on which the Russian diplomatic mission buildings are situated,” Barbin told TASS.
The Moscow Times contacted the Danish Foreign Ministry for comment.
His comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up his rhetoric on acquiring Greenland, which is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Trump has said China and Russia pose an immediate threat to the Arctic territory, claims that Danish officials reject.
While the Kremlin, weighing in on the territorial dispute, has said it views Greenland as part of Denmark, it has also sought to strike a balance in statements that are carefully worded so as not to upset Trump.
“Stepping back from the debate over whether it’s good or bad, or whether it aligns with international law… Trump will undoubtedly secure his place in history if he succeeds in acquiring Greenland,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.
Peskov declined to comment when asked about Trump’s claims of a “Russian threat” against Greenland.
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