"The market has long crushed democracy for itself": Kusturica spoke about the situation with the disconnection of RT DE from broadcasting to Europe

Commenting on the situation with the forced termination of the broadcasting of the German-language TV channel RT DE to Europe, Serbian director Emir Kusturica expressed the opinion that the claims of the German authorities could be part of a broader opposition to the so-called Russian influence.

“At the moment, when technology surrounds us from all sides and when there are no borders, one of the TV channels ... does not seem to suit Germany.

I am simply afraid that this is not an independent decision of Germany.

It seems to me that this is a broader scale of the war, which began just a few years ago, the focus here is on what they call "Russian malevolent influence on the world," the director said.

• Kusturica - on the fight against "Russian malevolent influence on the world"

Kusturica also said that freedom of the press no longer exists and everything is moving into the plane of ideology.

At the same time, speaking about RT, the filmmaker noted that the channel provides viewers with access to documentary materials from all over the world.

“For the first time in the history of broadcasting (for the time. -

) after the Second World War, there was such a company that simply shows us documentary materials about how people live in Mexico, how people live in Texas ... and acts without looking back at Hollywood recipes where everything is certainly polished before the show, ”said Kusturica.

He suggested that the initiators of the attacks against RT know that they themselves cannot offer viewers similar materials from around the world.

“The problem is that other mainstream TV companies only broadcast the politics of the elite.

You show people's lives.

This is what they want to punish you for, ”said the director.

• “You are showing people's lives.

  That's what they want to punish you for. "

  Kusturica - about attacks against RT DE

He added that the West "does not want to see the truth."

Along with this, Kusturica stressed: "The market has long crushed democracy for itself."

“The marketplace has become such a 'sacred place' where they want people to just consume the news.

Not only goods, but also news that will shape the world and consciousness, functioning at the frequencies set by them!

So it's a fight ... but we need to move on, ”said the filmmaker.

He also expressed the hope that as RT is under pressure, the channel's audience will only increase.

Recall that the broadcast RT DE was launched on December 16, but soon after the start of the broadcast, the head of the European media oversight body Tobias Schmid challenged its legality, saying that the channel would be "taken care of". Following this, the German media regulator (MABB) demanded explanations from RT why the German-language channel broadcasts to an audience of Germany without a "correct" license. The license obtained in Serbia, issued by the regulator for electronic media (REM), was called “wrong”.

As a result, on December 22, less than a week after the launch, the channel was removed from the platform of the European satellite operator Eutelsat 9B under pressure from MABB. According to RT General Director Alexei Nikolov, the broadcasting license was obtained in full compliance with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television - according to this document, a channel licensed by one of the countries that signed the convention can broadcast television in 33 European countries that have ratified the convention.

“We have received a broadcasting license for this channel in strict accordance with the law.

Immediately after that, the German regulator began in various ways to put pressure on those who in one way or another provide us with services to distribute the channel, believing that they should immediately take our signal off the air, because our license was received "not according to the rules."

Why it was received not according to the rules, in fact, they (in Germany. - RT) did not explain, "Nikolov stated, adding that the channel intends to defend its interests in court.

Commenting on this situation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recalled that in light of preparations for the launch of RT DE broadcasting, official Berlin made efforts to form a negative image of the channel in Germany.

The minister did not rule out that Moscow will be forced to answer if the oppression of the Russian media continues.

Serbian license and double standards

After the launch of RT DE, the German media stated that the German supervisory authority did not intend to put up with the fact that RT was using the license obtained in Serbia for broadcasting.

In particular, the publication Bild quoted the representative of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in the media in the Bundestag Thomas Hacker, who called the channel "pirate" and called for "to take action at all levels."

According to him, obtaining a license in Serbia allegedly does not give the right to broadcast throughout the EU.

In turn, the representative of the German Union of Journalists Hendrik Zorner said that the license issued in Serbia "is not worth the paper on which it is written."

The corresponding statement was published on the official website of the organization.

Also on russian.rt.com "Information segregation": how the FRG media regulator forced the RT DE channel to stop broadcasting to Europe

At the same time, an American media structure affiliated with the former CIA director David Petraeus is located and freely broadcasts on the territory of Serbia.

It includes, in particular, the channels NOVA TV and N1 (a partner of CNN), which broadcast in Serbian under licenses issued by Luxembourg.

Moreover, the Grand Duchy is not included in the list of 33 countries that have ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, which means that this license cannot be considered valid on the territory of Serbia.

We add that from the analysis prepared by the Media Observatory for Southeast Europe in December 2014, we can learn that the launch of N1 was lobbied by the European Commission in Brussels, the private investment fund (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, KKR) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The authors of the investigation found that after lobbying by KKR and the EBRD, persons working in the European Commission made amendments to the Serbian versions of the draft media laws.

To secure the launch of Channel N1, they allowed content distributors to become content producers at the same time.

In addition, negotiations took place between the Serbian government and David Petraeus, who is a member of the KKR leadership, prior to the launch of the website and TV channel.

Petraeus led the CIA from 2011-2012.

Prior to retiring from military service, he commanded a multinational force in Iraq (February 2007 - September 2008) and led US and NATO forces in Afghanistan (July 2010 - July 2011).