PARIS — The Kremlin vowed to further
restrict Western media in
Russia on Wednesday after the EU’s top court upheld
European sanctions that took Moscow’s RT channel off-air around the continent.
اضافة اعلان
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg
threw out an appeal from state-owned RT France against a broadcast ban which
was introduced as part of EU sanctions following
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Finding that the channel “actively supported”
Moscow’s destabilization of Ukraine and broadcast pro-war propaganda, the court
concluded that the EU’s decision was legal and proportionate.
“In the light of those considerations, the general
court dismisses the action in its entirety,” the judges ruled, referring to RT
France’s bid to overturn the ban and restrictions on its website.
The channel immediately announced an appeal, while
the Kremlin said it would take retaliatory measures.
“Of course, we will take similar measures of
pressure on Western media that operate in our country,” Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
“We will also not let them work in our country,” he
said, describing the Kremlin’s reaction to the ban as “extremely negative.”
“Essentially, RT has been blocked and cannot operate
in Europe,” Peskov said. “Europeans are trampling on their own ideals.”
Most Western media outlets are off-air in Russia and
have seen their websites banned, while many foreign journalists have left
because of draconian new laws that muzzle independent reporters.
‘Supported destabilization’
Launched in 2005 as Russia
Today, RT has grown its reach through broadcasts and websites in several
languages including English, French, Spanish, German and Arabic.
The EU’s decision to ban RT as well as fellow
Kremlin-funded news service Sputnik raised questions about freedom of
expression in the 27-member bloc and formed part of RT France’s legal appeal.
France’s national journalists’ union, the SNJ,
issued a statement at the end of February calling the targeting of Russian
media “an act of censorship.”
But the ECJ judges noted that the sanction was
temporary — until July 2022 — and found that it was “appropriate and necessary
to the aims pursued” given the “extraordinary context”.
“RT France actively supported ... the policy of
destabilization and aggression conducted by (Russia) towards Ukraine, which
ultimately resulted in a large-scale military offensive,” the court’s statement
said.
Secondly “RT France broadcast, in particular,
information justifying the military aggression against Ukraine, capable of
constituting a significant and direct threat to the Union’s public order and
security,” it continued.
Evidence presented to the court by RT France was
“not capable of demonstrating an overall balanced treatment by the latter of
information concerning the ongoing war,” the judges concluded.
The channel is seen by critics as parroting Russian
state propaganda and has been blocked in most Western countries since President
Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine.
Most Western broadcasters in Russia were dropped by
their local Russian providers after the invasion and websites including the
BBC, France’s RFI or Germany’s
Deutsche Welle are blocked.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin
signed a decree that gave the government powers to shut media organizations
from countries that were considered “unfriendly.”
Western social networks such as Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram are also banned.
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