Overview

• The Bundestag has formally excluded Russian and Belarusian ambassadors from its May 8 WWII commemoration, marking the war's 80th anniversary.
• This decision follows a Foreign Office recommendation citing fears that Russia could exploit the event to support its ongoing war in Ukraine.
• The broader Diplomatic Corps remains invited, but German authorities applied federal guidelines to exclude specific nations' representatives.
• Russian Ambassador Sergej Netschajew recently attended a separate memorial at Seelower Heights, drawing criticism for wearing the St. George's ribbon, a symbol banned in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev praised Germany's exclusion of Russian representatives as a strong stance against regimes responsible for current and past war crimes.