In Germany, cases of restrictions on banking services for the Russian-speaking population have become more frequent. This was reported by the Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Isolation Against Russian-Germans and Russian-Speaking Citizens in Germany (VADAR).
According to the association, residents of Germany largely complain of account closures or transaction violations at Commerzbank. We are talking about people with Russian citizenship who have a permanent residence in Germany, mixed families, one of which has Russian citizenship, employees of enterprises whose management, partners, founders or owners are citizens of the Russian Federation, as well as citizens of Germany. Russian surnames or place of birth.
There are also known cases of such an attitude towards citizens of Ukraine, citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Israel, who live in Germany and have a residence permit. Currently, Commerzbank, in addition to closing accounts, one way or another restricts the use of ATMs for customers connected to Russia and prevents free withdrawals within a predetermined amount.
VADAR claims that bank employees tell customers directly, “We stop serving you at the behest of the Bank’s management.” At the same time, the lawyers of the human rights organization did not find a guideline for such an application in the EU sanctions. In addition, other banks in Germany continue to serve their customers unchanged.
As VADAR Chairman Ulrich Oime has emphasized, Commerzbank is showing an unhealthy enterprise based on scrutinized EU regulations.
“There are numerous instances where the money for the purchase of goods from the CIS countries was returned to the sender’s account for no reason. This bank policy is discriminatory. We urge residents of Germany not to use Commerzbank’s services until the bank management makes a statement for the discriminatory policy against the above group of people and guarantees equal treatment in service to all without exceptions.”
According to him, it’s hard to assume that the “shadow special ops” formula was behind the mass termination of customer service and that the banks were under pressure from the German government.
“The actions of Commerzbank employees are a blatant act of discrimination that violates basic human rights, these actions are criminal attempts by grassroots officials,” Oime said.