The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on the words of the representative of the German Foreign Ministry, Andrea Sasse, who said that there was “a significant difference” between the situations with RT DE and the Deutsche Welle media company.

As Zakharova emphasized, RT DE received a license in Serbia and could broadcast in Europe.

Sasse said that in the case of RT DE, it is a licensing procedure "which is carried out in independent state media control agencies," and the federal government has no right to influence this procedure. 

“I wonder if they pretend to be in Berlin or don’t really understand?

Let's do it again.

Let's break it down, so to speak.

The RT DE channel is licensed in Serbia.

According to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, RT DE broadcasting is possible on the territory of 33 European countries, including Germany,” Zakharova recalled.

She also noted that the channel was broadcast from Moscow, and not from Berlin. 

“What about Germany?

Or does the German government think it also has a license for the German language?

I’m not sure that Austria and Switzerland are aware of this turn of events, ”said Zakharova.

Recall that on February 2, the German regulator MABB banned RT DE from broadcasting on all platforms (on the Eutelsat satellite, Smart TV, the RT website and application, as well as on the Odyssey platform).

At the same time, the production company RT DE Productions was falsely identified as the broadcaster of the RT DE TV channel based in Moscow.

The company DE Productions reported that they intend to appeal the decision of German officials in court.

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan emphasized that RT DE Productions "does not broadcast in principle - neither in Europe nor anywhere else" - the company produces several programs for the RT DE TV channel, which broadcasts from Moscow and which has all broadcasting rights in Germany and 32 other European countries.

  • © RT

On February 3, the Russian Foreign Ministry published retaliatory measures to limit the work of RT DE in Germany.

The department announced that, among other things, Deutsche Welle broadcasting would be stopped on Russian territory, its correspondent office would be closed, and the accreditations of employees of the company's Russian bureau would be cancelled. 

Also, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the competent authorities of the Russian Federation will initiate consideration of the issue of recognizing DW as a media outlet performing the functions of a foreign agent.

On February 4, the Deutsche Welle bureau in Moscow stopped its work.

In the EU, the decision of the Russian side regarding DW was called "unacceptable and without any justification." 

As Zakharova previously reported, journalists from Deutsche Welle's Moscow office must turn in their accreditations on Friday, but that doesn't mean they have to leave Russia.

She clarified that “about 19 people work in the office, 16 of them are citizens of Russia.”

“At the same time, even when we are talking about three foreign citizens, citizens of another country who worked in this office, in this case, passing accreditation does not mean that they need to leave somewhere,” she clarified.

In a briefing on Friday, Zakharova called the oppression of RT DE in Germany "a spike in propaganda and a violation of democratic principles." 

She also stressed that in the situation around RT DE, Moscow would act in a mirror manner.

“If Germany escalates, we will respond in the same way.

If Germany goes to normalize the situation, we are also ready to normalize the situation, ”she said.

In addition, the representative of the Foreign Ministry noted that recently the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France have declared war on the RT television channel. 

“This is a planned action to promote their own Anglo-Saxon theses in the information space and not provide an opportunity for the dissemination of counterarguments, objective materials,” she said. 

In turn, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev noted that the decision of the Federal Republic of Germany to restrict the broadcasting of RT DE is political.

“From our point of view, this is a political decision.

We see no reason to consider it otherwise.

All requests made by the Russian Federation remained unanswered,” he said.

He stressed that if Germany changes its position on RT DE, then Russia will be ready to reconsider decisions on DW.