Moscow The dispute between Germany and Russia over the respective foreign broadcasters has reached a new level of escalation. The Kremlin issued a broadcast ban on Deutsche Welle (DW) on Thursday. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the channel’s office to be closed, canceled the accreditation of all journalists working there, and banned the broadcast of the program via satellite or other channels in Russia.
In addition, a procedure will be initiated to classify DW as a foreign agent, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on its website. Unwelcome NGOs and media have been marked with this stigma in Russia for several years, and in 2020 the regulation was extended to private individuals.
There are numerous restrictions associated with the label. All publications must be marked as “foreign agent”, and the media concerned are subject to stricter financial controls. Reporters from a media outlet registered as a “foreign agent” can be prosecuted for covering demonstrations.
Representatives of Deutsche Welle said they would keep the office working until they were officially notified of the closure. The broadcaster also plans to sue the ban. DW Director General Peter Limbourg said: “The measures taken by the Russian authorities are in no way comprehensible and a complete overreaction.” One is being played with in a way that the media would only have to experience in autocracies.
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Limbourg added: “We are protesting in all forms against this absurd reaction by the Russian government and will take legal action to take action against the announced measures.” Office in Moscow.” Even if the office were to close, it would not affect reporting on Russia. The director even spoke of a significant increase in reporting.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, described the decision as a “response measure as part of a reaction to the unfriendly actions of the Federal Republic of Germany”. What is meant by this is the ban on broadcasting the German-language program of the Russian state broadcaster RT DE.
RT DE also blocked on Youtube
On Wednesday, the German Commission for Admission and Supervision (Zak) decided that RT DE was not allowed to go back on the air in Germany. The TV program may not be broadcast via satellite or via live stream on the Internet or mobile apps because “the required media law approval is not available,” the ZAK justifies the ban.
RT DE started live programming in December, citing a Serbian broadcasting license, but was shut down by satellite operator Eutelsat a few days later. Youtube had previously blocked the channel, citing internal guidelines because the broadcaster is said to be spreading disinformation about Covid-19.
However, the conflict over RT DE has been going on for a number of years and is being interpreted by the Russian government as a sign of censorship and political discrimination in the West. When German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited her colleague Sergey Lavrov in January, representatives of the Kremlin-affiliated journalists’ association handed the minister an official letter of complaint about the RT restrictions.
The Greens politician Baerbock had declared at the time that no state radio was allowed in Germany. This also applies to the USA, for example. In Germany, the regulation also has historical reasons because of the role of the state media in National Socialism.
At her meeting with her counterpart Lavrov in January, Baerbock rejected criticism of the broadcast ban on RT DE.
(Photo: dpa)
Even then, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had made it clear that Moscow would react sharply to the restrictions on its state broadcaster. According to the Kremlin, the current measures, including a blacklist of German officials who are said to have promoted the ban on RT DE, are only a first step. Moscow reserves the right to impose further restrictions on other German journalists and editors.
The Kremlin also spoke on Thursday of an attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the press. “The situation is perfectly clear: a Russian mass medium, I would even say an international mass medium, will be banned from broadcasting in Germany. This is nothing more than an attack on the freedom of speech,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax agency.
Unions criticize broadcasting ban
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also criticized the fact that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said nothing about the broadcast ban on RT DE and did not advocate media freedom.
The German Association of Journalists (DJV) protested against the ban on broadcasting Deutsche Welle. There is no justification for this drastic censorship measure, said DJV national chairman Frank Überall, according to a statement on Thursday. He called on the federal government to protest. Verdi federal board member Christoph Schmitz demanded that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) press for the ban on broadcasting to be lifted during his upcoming visit to Russia.
The Minister of State for Culture and Media, Claudia Roth, described the ban on broadcasting as “in no way acceptable”. She said on Thursday in Berlin: “The decision is obviously intended as a counter-reaction to the decision of the state media authorities to ban the distribution of RT DE’s licensed broadcasting program.” However, the equation has no basis whatsoever.
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Roth emphasized that RT DE is currently broadcasting without a license and has not applied for a license. “It’s a completely different situation than that of DW, which is now having its license revoked.” The German state has no influence on the programming.
Roth explained: “I therefore urgently appeal to the Russian side not to abuse the broadcaster RT’s licensing problems for a political reaction. Clear de-escalation steps are needed in the mutual relationship.”
RT – formerly Russia Today – also broadcasts in Spanish and Arabic in the USA and other countries and sees its German-language program as a contribution to the diversity of opinion in Europe. Critics accuse RT of Kremlin propaganda and disinformation. The German offer is considered very popular in the so-called lateral thinker movement. The reports often question the purpose and effectiveness of vaccinations.
This is notable in that it completely contradicts the broadcast line of RT’s Russian-language program, which is strictly pro-vaccination. RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan called unvaccinated people not only “idiots” on Russian television, but also “a direct threat to the life and health of my, hers and all children”.
With agency material
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