The German Foreign Ministry has protested the closure of Deutsche Welle’s office in Russia, which Moscow sees as retaliatory measures against the suspension of German broadcasts.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency International Group, Russia’s foreign ministry has ordered the closure of Deutsche Welle’s offices and a ban on its broadcasts in response to the suspension of German broadcasts.
Thus, a day after the decision of the German Media Regulatory Commission to suspend the broadcasting of German programs on the “Rasha Today” network, the Russian Foreign Ministry also ordered the closure of Deutsche Welle’s office in Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously said that the commission’s action was a clear and hostile message and left no choice but to retaliate against the German media operating in Russia.
According to the order, Deutsche Welle’s office in Moscow will be closed and its colleagues’ journalistic licenses will be revoked. A letter to the office states that the Deutsche Welle studio will close at 9 am on Friday, February 4.
Deutsche Welle has been licensed to broadcast DW English and DW Deutsch in Russia since 2005, and according to the current licenses of the Russian media organization, Deutsche Welle is valid until 2025 and Deutsche Welle until 2027.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that sanctions were to be imposed on “representatives of the German government and public institutions involved in the cessation of the broadcast of the Rashatodi program.”
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The state-run RT network is broadcast internationally in six languages, and it is believed that its German-language programs contribute to the diversity of ideas in Europe. But critics say the network is a spokesman for the Kremlin by spreading false information and propaganda.
According to De Site, the German government also reacted to Moscow’s move, calling it baseless.
The German Foreign Ministry has strongly criticized the ban on Deutsche Welle broadcasts in Russia and stressed: The actions of the Russian government announced today against Deutsche Welle are completely baseless and are even more in the direction of re-creating tension in the relations between the two countries.
Russia has repeatedly criticized Berlin’s actions against the Rashatodi network as politically motivated, and Berlin has consistently denied the allegations.
Recently, during a visit to Moscow, German Foreign Minister Analna Bayerbuk revealed that there is freedom of the media in his country.