BERLIN (Parliament Politics Magazine): The decision by Russia to close the Moscow bureau of international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has been criticised by Germany and the EU.
All of DW’s employees have found themselves at a loss of their press credentials, and the channel is no longer allowed to broadcast in Russia.
The move was “not acceptable in any way” according to the Culture minister of Germany.
Russia claimed it was retaliating after German regulators determined that a new Russian state-run television channel, RT DE, lacked the necessary operation licence.
On Friday, Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, attempted to extend an olive branch to Germany, stating that if Germany took steps to “normalise the situation,” Russia would follow suit.
RT broadcasts French, English and Spanish, and in December 2021, it started a German-language satellite station under a licence from Serbia, which is outside the European Union.
RT is commonly seen as a Kremlin outlet, and Germany’s Zak licensing office stated it did not have an EU permit. Within days, the channel was deleted from the satellite network of Europe.
The Russian move to close the bureau was a gross overreaction, according to General Peter Limbourg, Deutsche Welle’s Director, another proof that the Russian administration was not interested in journalistic freedom.
Juri Rescheto, the Moscow bureau chief, said the announcement that his office will close at 9:00 a.m. on Friday was unexpected: There were numerous technical and legal concerns. So far, only this was known that press credentials must be returned.
Russia should not “abuse the problems of RT’s licence rights for a political reaction” said Culture Minister Claudia Roth.
RT has had problems with its English-language channel as well. The UK regulator Ofcom fined it £200,000 for failing to “preserve due impartiality.”
Other German public stations have expressed support for Deutsche Welle, and the German Federation of Journalists has called for the ban to be lifted immediately.
Separately, Latvia’s justice minister announced that he will make DW an offer of moving the bureau to Riga.
The foreign ministry of Russia also announced that it will begin a procedure to classify Deutsche Welle as a foreign agent, a phrase used by the Soviets to target political dissidents.
Russian authorities have expelled journalists and shut down organisations in recent months.
