Russia's Lavrov Warns Germany of Reciprocal Action if Curbs to Media Freedom Persist

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2022) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Germany on Friday that his country could reciprocate restrictions that Berlin had imposed on Russian broadcaster RT if this behavior continued.

"The Germans know this will happen," he said in an interview with Sputnik, Echo of Moscow, Govorit Moskva and the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio stations.

The Moscow-based broadcaster RT announced the launch of a German-language service in December only to see it taken off air by the German media regulator days later.

The German authorities said it did not have a license to operate, a claim denied by RT.

Lavrov said media freedom must be respected everywhere without exception, be it Belarus or any other former Soviet republic.

"If these rights are blatantly violated we will raise these issues," he told journalists.

Lavrov said he raised the RT crackdown with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, during her visit to Moscow last week. He added he planned to call her later on Friday and promised that RT would again be on the agenda.