Germany has obtained the cut by Eutelsat of satellite broadcasting of the Russian news channel Russia Today (RT) in German language, the German media regulator (MABB) reported on Wednesday (December 22nd).
The channel RT, the Kremlin’s propaganda tool abroad, began broadcasting in German on December 16 via satellite from Serbia. Corn “No broadcasting license has been requested or granted by MABB” for this program, specifies the German regulator.
This suspension is part of an already tense climate between Germany and Russia. In recent days, Berlin and Moscow have carried out reciprocal expulsions of diplomats in connection with the murder by a Russian secret service agent of a Chechen exile in Berlin.
Circumvention of German law
When it was launched, RT explained that it was broadcasting under a Serbian license and that this was also valid in Germany, according to the channel, under the European Convention on Transfrontier Television (CETT). RT also applied for a satellite broadcasting license in Luxembourg in June, in order to circumvent German law, but “Luxembourg had rejected the notification by referring to the legal sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany”, recalls the German authority.
On December 16, the day of the launch, YouTube suspended Russia Today’s German-language account for violating its terms of service. The Russian news channel in German, however, remains visible through its website.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the “Discrimination” against RT. Speaking on RT on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he could not rule out retaliation for the blocking of satellite broadcasting.
“From the start, the German authorities did all they could to give your channel (RT) a bad image in German society. Until recently, we did not want to take the same path, by stifling the press… but I cannot exclude that we react. “
Our series “The Kremlin Information Wars”