Germany summons Russian ambassador over expulsion of two German journalists from Russia

The Russian ambassador to Germany has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in connection with Moscow’s decision to expel two German journalists.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called Russia’s move unacceptable. “Today we summoned the ambassador,” she said, dpa agency reported.

“The expulsion of ARD employees by Russia is unacceptable, and the justification is simply false and dishonest. We condemn this in the strongest terms,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated of the decision to summon the ambassador.

Russia expels German journalists

Russia announced the expulsion of two journalists from the German media group ARD after Russian propagandists from Channel One complained about the German authorities’ order to leave the country.

Maria Zakharova, the press attaché of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced this at a briefing.

Zakharova traditionally spoke about “unfriendly actions of official Berlin towards Russian media” and recalled Germany’s “intrigues” against the so-called journalists from Russia.

“So, in response to the German authorities’ ban on the stay and work of Channel One correspondents, we are forced to take mirror measures against journalists from the Moscow office of the German media group ARD,” she announced.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the ARD correspondent and cameraman will have to give back their accreditation certificate and leave the territory of Russia “within the established time frame.”

Germany denied expelling Russian journalists, calling Russian statement false

At the same time, Germany clarified that Berlin did not expel the Russian “journalists” and did not close the Channel One office in Berlin, contrary to the claims made by Kremlin propagandists.

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected Russian propagandists’ claims about the alleged closure of Channel One’s Berlin office and the expulsion of its journalists.

Ivan Blagoy, a “correspondent” for Channel One’s propaganda, said earlier on Wednesday that he and cameraman Dmitry Volkov received orders to “leave Germany in the first half of December” the day before.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner called these statements false, emphasizing that the German federal government “did not close the office of this TV channel.”

“I can only assume that this (the journalists’ statement about the need to leave Germany – Ed.) is related to the issue of residence rights, meaning that this issue is under the jurisdiction of the state authorities, not the federal government,” he said.

Wagner noted that Russian “journalists” can “report freely and unhindered in Germany,” although he added that Channel One has been under EU sanctions since December 2022.

After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU countries imposed sanctions on Russian propaganda outlets that openly engage in subversion and disinformation campaigns targeting European audiences.

“Channel One has been under EU sanctions since December 2022, which include a ban on its broadcasting and retransmission, but not on the work of its “journalists” in the European Union.

Russian propaganda targeting audiences in Germany

Russian propaganda targets German audiences, including through local Kremlin-friendly websites. In our research, we identified German news websites that disseminate pro-Russian narratives, quote Russian state media, receive back quotes from them, and spread claims that could play into the hands of Russia. In the content analysis, we revealed key pro-Russian narratives targeting audiences in Europe.

In another research project, we investigated the impact of Russian propaganda media, publishing, and broadcasting in Russian on Russian speakers in the EU, particularly in Germany. In our analysis, we delved into the website analytics of Russian-based news outlets and their coverage, impressions, and views in Europe.  Many Russian speakers still search and browse news in Russian, with very often biased outlets spreading pro-Kremlin views and supporting Putin’s war propaganda.