Russia retaliates against Deutsche Welle over German RT ban – EURACTIV.com

The Russian foreign ministry announced on Thursday (3 February) that German broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s correspondent office in Moscow will be closed down to retaliate against the ban of Russia Today’s broadcasting service by German authorities.

Russia revoked the broadcasting licence of Deutsche Welle (DW) and announced a broadcasting stop “via satellite and other means in the Russian Federation.”

Furthermore, the Office of the German broadcaster will be shut down in Russia and all media accreditations of their journalists revoked.

The Russian government is also working on declaring DW a “foreign spy.”

Russia will initiate “proceedings by competent bodies of the Russian Federation on the classification of “Deutsche Welle” as a foreign mass medium performing functions of a foreign agent,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The move comes after the German-language TV programme of Russia Today (RT) was banned in Germany on Wednesday over not having the proper licences needed to broadcast on television. Instead of applying for a German licence, the Russian media opted to broadcast from Serbia, hoping to circumvent the German legal requirements.