Germany announced that broadcasting by the Russian television channel RT DE will be closed. The German side gave no legitimate cause or motive, TASS has learned.
The German media regulator has banned RT DE from broadcasting in German in Germany due to lack of a licence, the regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia will take a symmetrical measure against German news media operating in Russia in responding to the decision by a German regulator to ban broadcasting by RT DE. Commenting on the decision made by the German media regulator, the Russian diplomats noted that Berlin’s move is ‘an unambiguous sign’ that Russian concerns have been blatantly ignored.
“The move leaves us with no other choice than to start implementing retaliatory measures toward the German media that are accredited in Russia, as well as the online intermediaries that removed the channel’s accounts, without any legitimate cause or motive, from their platforms,” the statement said.
In general, the news organization operated under a satellite broadcasting licence issued by Serbia and in full compliance with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, which Germany signed, too.
Responding to the German move, the Russian foreign ministry pointed out to Germany that it’s unacceptable to exert politically motivated pressure on the Russian media operator. According to the Russians, the retaliatory measures would be inevitable if Berlin refused to find a constructive solution to the problem it created with RT DE.
Germany insists, RT DE, which requires a broadcasting licence under German law, was neither granted nor requested permission. As teleSUR reports, it therefore ordered the channel to halt broadcasting on air, on the Internet, through the mobile app and through the satellite.
