Russia has blocked access to 81 European Union Member States’ media outlets on Russian territory, Moscow announced on Tuesday. It was a retaliatory measure after Brussels imposed sanctions on several Russian media outlets in May, they added. Among Slovenian media, the Russian authorities have blocked access only to the Nova24TV and Demokracija magazine (Democracy) web portals. This in itself is proof that other media in Slovenia are sufficiently pro-Vladimir Putin to be allowed in Russia.
“Retaliatory restrictions have been imposed in terms of access to broadcast sources of media from EU Member States from Russian territory,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, publishing a list of media outlets affected by the measures. The sanctioned media include the French and Spanish news agencies AFP and EFE, the French newspaper Le Monde, the German Der Spiegel, Zeit and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Spanish El Mundo, the Italian La Repubblica and La Stampa, as well as the Austrian, Italian and Irish broadcasters ORF, Rai and RTE.
Among Slovenian media outlets, the Russian authorities have blocked access to the web portals of Nova24TV and Demokracija magazine, according to a list on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.
According to Moscow, this is a retaliatory measure after the European Union adopted sanctions in May against the Russian web portal Voice of Europe, the newspapers Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and the Ria Novosti news agency. According to Brussels, these media outlets are under the direct or indirect control of the Russian authorities and play a key role in spreading and supporting propaganda in support of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The Russian authorities will reconsider the measures taken in the event that the EU lifts its measures against these Russian media outlets, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said in a statement.
Sara Kovač
