The list of banned media includes France’s AFP, Germany’s Der Spiegel and FAZ, and Italy’s state broadcaster Rai.
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Russia has blocked access to 81 European media outlets in Russia, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, in retaliation for the EU’s ban on four state-run media outlets.
The list includes France’s AFP, Le Monde and L’Express, Germany’s Der Spiegel and FAZ, as well as the Italian and Spanish public broadcasters Rai and RTVE.
Public broadcasters in Portugal, Greece, Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Finland, as well as the European cultural channel Arte, also made the list.
“Once restrictions on Russian media are lifted, the Russian side will also reconsider its decision regarding the above-mentioned media operators,” the ministry said in a statement announcing the decision.
Last month the EU banned four propaganda networks it said had ties to the Kremlin, including Voice of Europe, RIA News Agency, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
In a May 17 statement, the European Council said the four blacklisted media outlets were blocked because they are “under permanent direct or indirect control” of Russia and have “been instrumental” in facilitating support for Russia’s illegal aggression in Ukraine.
RIA, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta are known to be at least partially owned by the Russian government, while the Netherlands-based Voice of Europe became the focus of a counter-disinformation operation following Russiagate, a wide-ranging investigation into politicians across Europe who were allegedly paid to spread Kremlin propaganda.
In late March, Czech authorities announced they had uncovered Russian influence operations carried out through Voice of Europe, involving financial transactions to members of the European Parliament and national parliaments.
Czech media, citing intelligence sources, reported that the charges implicate politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary.
In response, German law enforcement authorities investigated Petr Byström, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on suspicion of corruption and money laundering, and searched his offices in Munich, Mallorca and Berlin.
Maximilian Klar, a former AfD candidate for the European elections, was also implicated in the case. The Alternative for Germany eventually removed him from the list of MEPs due to this and other scandals he was involved in.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has banned several independent domestic and international media outlets, accusing them of spreading “propaganda” and “extremist” views.
It also makes it illegal to call acts of aggression against neighboring countries war, claiming instead that they are “special military operations,” and uses this law as an excuse to silence dissent, including in the media.
