Russia fails with lawsuit: RT France remains banned

The Russian international broadcaster RT France has failed in its lawsuit against a broadcasting ban in France.

The General Court of the European Union ruled after an accelerated trial on Wednesday that given the role of the media in society, propaganda support for the war of aggression against Ukraine by the Russian-funded broadcaster may be subject to restrictive measures.

This does not fundamentally call into question the right to freedom of expression.

In this respect, a temporary ban on broadcasting by the Council of the EU is appropriate and necessary in view of its goals, according to the judges in Luxembourg.

In response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, the Council of the European Union had banned the various programs of the Moscow-financed broadcaster RT from broadcasting their content across the EU.

This was justified with targeted disinformation.

The decision made on March 1 is initially valid until July 31.

The Grand Chamber of the Court in Luxembourg rejected the accusation that the Council was exceeding its competence.

Rather, he has a wide scope for action and cannot be criticized for taking necessary steps against a "serious threat to peace at Europe's borders and the violation of international law".

The measures were decided in “extreme urgency” but with “reasonably precise” reasons.

The court saw the restriction of freedom of expression as justified by an objective of general interest, namely to protect security and order in the EU and to put pressure on the Russian authorities to end military aggression.

The broadcaster RT France, on the other hand, cannot show that it has provided balanced reporting that corresponds to the obligations and responsibilities of the media.

The Russian government announced it would appeal and obstruct the work of Western media in Russia.

“We will take similar action against Western media operating in our country.

We will no longer let them work in our country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow on Wednesday.

Western media should not expect flexibility from Russian authorities, Peskov said.

He spoke of an "attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in European countries".