EU calls Russia closure of Deutsche Welle bureau 'unacceptable'

The EU on Friday slammed Russia's decision to close the Moscow bureau of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, calling it "unacceptable" and "a bad development". 

DW's Moscow office was closed after Germany banned Russia Today from working in Germany. Yuri Kadobnov AFP

This week the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the closure of DW's Moscow office, saying the step was a "retaliatory measure" against Berlin prohibiting the German language broadcasts of the state-run Russian outlet RT in December last year.

In addition, the accreditation of DW's correspondents would be revoked and its satellite broadcasting in Russia terminated.

The organisation, which is an EU-based international broadcaster like RFI's parent company France Medias Monde, is designated as "foreign agent", Russia said in a statement.

It added that Russia would compile a list of people involved in RT's December closure who would be banned from entering the Russian Federation.

"The list will not be published," the statement added.

⚡️ Russia intends to implement the first stage of retaliatory measures in response to the unfriendly actions by the Federal Republic of Germany, which banned the satellite and other types of broadcasting by the German-language TV channel @de_rt_com

👉 https://t.co/Bo8NqhFqGi pic.twitter.com/vwvSTHwP5l

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 3, 2022

The move "regrettably illustrates yet again their continuous violation of media freedom and disregard for independence of media," an EU spokesman for foreign affairs, Peter Stano, told journalists.

The closure adds to West-Russia tensions that have hiked to dramatic levels because of mass deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine's borders in what the EU and US fear might be the prelude to a further invasion.

Stano said that the Berlin ban on the RT channel was because the channel lacked a valid licence to broadcast in Germany, and was "completely unrelated to the work of Deutsche Welle in Russia".

Russia: decision to ban @DeutscheWelle is unacceptable & lacks any justification. It illustrates yet again the continuous violations of media freedom and disregard for independence of the media by the 🇷🇺 authorities. 🇪🇺stands in solidarity with DW https://t.co/viXQSL9TdD

— Peter Stano (@ExtSpoxEU) February 4, 2022

Disinformation

Launched in 2005 as "Russia Today", as a subsidiary of RIA Novosti, one of three Russian state-owned news broadcasters, RT has expanded with channels and websites in languages including English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

In the West, RT's ability to deliver credible journalism is questioned.

The 2019 study "Weaponizing News" by King's College in London concluded that outlets like RT and Sputnik are propaganda instruments excelling in "targteted disinformation" designed to depict western democracy as "unstable" while painting a positive picture of Russia.