The Russian Embassy in Washington announced the double standards of the United States because of DW and reminded RT
Photo: Annegret Hilse / Reuters
The Russian Embassy in Washington has accused the head of the press service of the US State Department, Ned Price, of double standards. The statement of the diplomatic mission was published on its official Twitter account.
Double standards
Russia has accused the United States of double standards because of Price’s reaction to the closure of the Moscow bureau of the Deutsche Welle (DW) broadcasting company. The Embassy recalled that the sanctions against DW were retaliatory measures to ban satellite and other types of broadcasting of the German-language channel RT DE.
The statement of the representative of the State Department is another manifestation of the policy of double standards. Where were the “high democratic values” when Berlin banned satellite and other types of broadcasting to RT DE?
Russian Embassy in Washington
Earlier, Price stood up for the closed Deutsche Welle. He said that Washington condemns this decision of Moscow.
The US condemns the decision of the Russian government to close the Moscow bureau of Deutsche Welle
Ned Price Press Secretary of the State Department
OSCE Statement
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also commented on the situation with the closure of Deutsche Welle in Russia. Its representative on freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, called the introduction of retaliatory sanctions against the media disproportionate and contrary to the principles and obligations of the OSCE in the field of freedom of journalism.
I call on the Russian authorities to reconsider their approach and ensure that media professionals can continue to fulfill their important public role.
Teresa Ribeiro OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
However, Ribeiro chose not to comment on the ban on RT DE broadcasting in Germany. She also responded with silence to the fact that the measures against Deutsche Welle were in response to Germany’s actions.
The Russian Permanent Mission called Ribeiro’s reaction a manifestation of unprofessionalism. In the words of the OSCE representative, they saw “frank political bias in assessing the situation,” since she “raised her voice to the forced retaliatory measures of the Russian side.”
Closure of Deutsche Welle in Russia
On February 4, the Deutsche Welle bureau closed in Moscow after the corresponding decision of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Irina Filatova, an employee of the TV channel, admitted that no one in the editorial office expected such actions from the authorities.
On the eve of February 3, Russia announced sanctions against Deutsche Welle. The authorities announced the closure of the organization’s correspondent point and the cancellation of the accreditation of all employees of the Deutsche Welle Russian bureau. In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry intends to initiate a procedure for considering the recognition of DW as a foreign agent.
The German Journalists’ Union has personally addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin and called on him to lift sanctions against Deutsche Welle. The head of the organization, Frank Überall, called the actions of the Russian authorities to ban the broadcasting of the German-language RT DE TV channel a “cheap reaction.”
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, found the Union’s appeal ridiculous, since the German government distanced itself from the situation with RT DE, “nodding at the social and legal regulation of this sphere.” State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stressed that the restrictions of the Russian government against Deutsche Welle could become even tougher. “We will not ignore unfriendly actions against our country,” he said.
Measures against RT DE
On February 1, the Media Supervision Commission banned RT DE from broadcasting in German in Germany. The authorities cited the lack of a license required by the law on mass media for the TV channel as the reason. Back at the end of December 2021, the German-language media regulator MABB removed RT DE from broadcasting in Europe. Representatives of the TV channel called MABB’s actions illegal and announced plans to seek judicial review of the decision.
