Bizarre threat to journalists
Russia reprimands German ambassador
March 5, 2024, 11:43 a.m
They don’t want to meet Foreign Minister Lavrov and attend the funeral of the opposition figure Navalny: Russia doesn’t like the behavior of Western ambassadors at all. A spokeswoman also accuses Germany of restricting Russian journalists – and threatens to take countermeasures.
Russia has criticized the behavior of Western ambassadors in the country and suggested the expulsion of German journalists. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Western ambassadors in Moscow of interfering in Russia’s internal affairs. The behavior raises questions about the purpose of such envoys, said Zakharova.
In addition, the German ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff was reprimanded for Germany’s attempts to restrict the activities of Russian journalists. “If they attack Russian correspondents and implement their plan, German journalists will leave Russia,” said Zakharova.
It seems bizarre that such allegations come from Russia of all places, where large parts of the media landscape are controlled by the state. Also in view of the fact that the security authorities had repeatedly arrested journalists during the so-called women’s protests on Saturdays. There were also home visits with the request not to report on the activities in which flowers were laid at monuments.
EU ambassadors do not want to meet Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently said he was dismayed by the European Union ambassadors’ refusal to meet him for talks ahead of the presidential election in mid-March. Zakharova, when asked by a Russian state television presenter whether the EU ambassadors understood their role, said their refusal to meet Lavrov actually raised questions about their role. “What are they doing and why, how do they interpret their behavior on the territory of our country if they do not perform their most important function?” said the spokeswoman.
Regarding the moderator’s statement that the EU ambassadors nevertheless attended the funeral of the opposition activist Alexei Navalny, she said that such behavior showed that Western ambassadors in Moscow were interfering in Russia’s internal affairs. They staged “performances” instead of doing their diplomatic work. The TV program had the key question: “Should the EU ambassadors be expelled?”