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FDP MP Alexander Graf Lambsdorff
Photo: IMAGO/Political Moments
A change in top staff is imminent at the German embassy in Moscow.
The FDP foreign politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff is to become the new ambassador next summer.
This was confirmed to SPIEGEL from traffic light coalition circles.
"That's the way it's intended," it said about the personnel.
The Pioneer portal had previously reported on the planned change.
Géza Andreas von Geyr is currently on the post in Moscow.
The diplomatic mission in the Russian capital has been considered one of the most difficult since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
For a long time there was speculation in Berlin coalition circles that Lambsdorff could become ambassador to the USA - this option is now off the table.
Lambsdorff is considered one of the most experienced foreign politicians of the traffic light, not least because of his previous knowledge of the Foreign Office.
From 1995 he was trained as a diplomat, and in 1997/1998 he was a member of the planning staff at the Federal Foreign Office under the then FDP Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel.
From 2000 to 2003, Lambsdorff also worked at the German Embassy in Washington, after which he was temporarily the country officer for Russia at the Federal Foreign Office.
From 2004 to 2017 he was a member of the European Parliament and from 2014 to 2017 its Vice-President.
Lambsdorff has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017 and is deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group.
More soon at SPIEGEL.de
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