Constantine van Vloten will leave the castle in the Netherlands, where he previously set up his office. This decision was made after threats to the owner of the building from local residents.

The Russian consulate in the Netherlands will leave its office at Strijthagen Castle in Landgraaf after the owner of the building received threats from local residents to smash the estate.

The Russian consul called the war a “peacekeeping mission”

The publication noted that last year Konstantin van Vloten publicly supported Putin. Moreover, he cynically stated that the war against Ukraine is allegedly a “peacekeeping mission.” After such absurd statements, the Russian consulate was smashed by activists, and the Maastricht city council banned its activities.

In February 2023, the diplomat was sheltered in his castle by the artist Alexander Taratinov, in addition to Russian citizenship of the Netherlands. However, it was not possible to settle in the estate for a long time.

The Russian ambassador has decided that the consulate is no longer located in the castle,” Taratinov said.

He also lamented the threats from unknown activists to destroy the estate and damage its works of art if the Russian consulate did not leave the castle. In addition, the Landgraaf city hall received complaints from local residents and individual political forces.

Taratinov claimed that his castle was allegedly used only as the “registration address” of the consulate, that is, the postal address, and the consul does his work “online”. He stated that the consul could play a certain role in “improving relations between countries even in times of war.”

Currently, van Vloten claims that the owner of the castle is being “blackmailed” and therefore, for the time being, he will do his job online. However, according to the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations between countries, an honorary consul must have a physical address.

Note! On February 18, it became known that the Netherlands decided to reduce the number of Russian diplomats. Yes, the government decided that the embassy of the aggressor state in The Hague should not have more bilateral diplomats than the Dutch embassy in Moscow. Therefore, a number of Russian diplomats will have to leave the country.