Did U.S. Closure Of Russian Consulate In San Francisco Violate International Law?
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
SAN FRANCISCO – I walk up an immensely steep hill on Green Street in San Francisco’s ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood. The ‘smell’ of old, old San Francisco money is in the air. Pacific Heights is San Francisco’s most exclusive neighborhood. The elite enclave is also home to the former Consulate General of Russia. I take in the spectacular view of the bay from atop the hill, the majestic Golden Gate Bridge to my left, and Alcatraz Island to the right. I can also see the rooftop of the building I am writing this article about from my steep perch. An empty steel flag pole extends high above the roof. The Russian flag no longer flies atop the six-story brown brick building. Last year, the U.S. State Department ordered the consulate to shut down amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia and Moscow’s move to a reduce the number of American diplomatic staff allowed in their country. In addition to the San Francisco consulate, the U.S. ordered Russia to shut its diplomatic offices in Washington, Seattle, and New York.
Russia Accused U.S. Of Violating International Law In Shuttering Diplomatic Posts:
“On September 2, (2017) US authorities seized the buildings of the General Consulate of the Russian Federation in San Francisco and the Trade Representation in Washington, D.C., which are the property of Russia and have a diplomatic immunity. Russian representatives are also being denied access to the rented premises of the Trade Representation in New York. We treat these developments as a blatantly hostile act, a grave violation by Washington of international law, including the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations and the bilateral Convention on Consular Relations.”
Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation-Sept. 03, 2017.
Russia’s San Francisco Consulate Issued 16,000 Tourists Visas in 2016
“We believe that the decision to close the Consulate General of Russian Federation in San Francisco is another unfriendly step of the US authorities, which, first of all, will hit hard on Russian citizens residing in the consular district, as well as on American citizens. A significant part of Russians also have American citizenship.
We would like to emphasize that in 2016 the Consulate General issued more than 16 thousand tourist visas for American citizens. Closure of the Consulate General will create certain difficulties in the preparation of documents for this category of Americans. Also, there is a question of time frame, that the US authorities gave for the closure of the Consulate General – only two days,” Aug. 31, 2017 Statement by Consulate General after U.S. orders closure of SF Consul.
San Francisco Bay Area’s Russian-American Community and Americans Seeking To Visit Russia Impacted by closure of Consulate General. There are reports that Russian citizens in the area have suffered from a lack of consular assistance.
Zoia Lu-Choglokoff, the Executive Director of the Russia Center of San Francisco told the Diplomatic Times in an interview that “the closure is bad for local Americans wanting to visit Russia who need to get visas.” The Russia Center of San Francisco is a non-profit cultural center founded in 1939 by Russian immigrants as a focal point for the preservation of their cultural heritage. Choglokoff said the closure of the consulate has not had any impact on the Russia Center of San Francisco. “We are independent and non-political,” Choglokoff said. “We never took any funding from the Russian Consulate.” She said the Russian Center only worked with the Russian Consulate once a year to coordinate the center’s annual Russia Festival. Choglokoff emphasized that the Center’s relationship with the Russian Consulate was strictly cultural. She said the Center worked with the Consulate in assisting entertainers in Russian such as dancers and singers, with visas to visit and perform at the Russia Center of San Francisco over the past years. The Russian Center annually produces many cultural activities including operas, dance concerts, folk dance classes,social gatherings and lectures. The Russian Center is home to Teremok, a State certified Russian pre-school, Congress of Russian Americans, Museum of Russian Culture, Russian Life Daily Newspaper, a library of Russian books, Russian folk dancing classes, rhythmic gymnastic classes, Russian Center Opera Company and the Russian American Chamber Orchestra.
The Russian-American population in the U.S. is 3.13 million, according to Institute of Modern Russia. Russian America is mostly bi-coastally clustered around the Atlantic and Pacific oceans: 36 percent reside in the Northeast region where stands the symbolic cultural capital of Brighton Beach, says the Census; some 26 percent are settled in the West, 21 percent favor the sunny South, and 17 percent call the Midwest heartland home, Institute of Modern Russia. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to about 75,000 Russian-speaking residents.
U.S. Closed Russian Consuls to “Achieve Parity” in Diplomatic Missions: State Department
“The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries.
In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2.”U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, Aug. 31, 2017.
Regarding Moscow’s contention the United States violated international law by giving Russia just two days to close the diplomatic posts in San Francisco and the other American cities, a State Department Spokesperson told Diplomatic Times in an email: “The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations provides that consular posts are established only with the host state’s consent.” In other words, a big
НET! (NO!) Washington’s move came after Moscow announced in July 2017 that the diplomatic presence of the United States in Russia would be scaled down by 755 people to 455, the same number of diplomatic personnel Russia has in the United States since late 2016, when 35 Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States. The Cold War continues folks!
Did Russian Spies Operate Out Of The S.F. Consulate General ?
According to local media reports, as workers scramble to close the building in time, acrid black smoke began billowing out of its chimney on Sept 1, 2017, two days before staff was ordered to abandon the diplomatic post. Rumors and speculation swirled that staff was burning “sensitive” documents. It is not the intent of DIPLOMATIC TIMES to delve into any alleged espionage activities that may have been conducted inside the S.F. Consul. But for the curious, the following is a really good article in Foreign Policy.com on the subject: The Secret History Of The Russian Consulate in San Francisco.
