Sputnik's Simonyan Rejects Delphi Forum Offer on Remark From Floor Instead of Moderation

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2020) RT and Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said on Thursday that the organizers of the Delphi Economic Forum, who excluded Sputnik from full-fledged participation in the event, proposed providing the news agency with the opportunity to make a remark from the floor instead of moderating a discussion, but Sputnik is not satisfied with that.

Earlier in the day, the forum's organizers barred a Sputnik representative, Director of Foreign Language News Production Tatyana Kukhareva, from participating in the business program of the event. They cited protests from the speakers and sponsors as justification for their decision. Simonyan appealed to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos regarding the issue, asking "when did political censorship return to the homeland of democracy?"

"We received a letter after our publications and my question to the president about censorship in the homeland of democracy.

In return, they offer to allow us a remark from the floor. Dear Greek friends, this does not work for us. We will be happy to restore initial agreements and [receive] an apology to Tatyana from your side. Especially since the last day of your forum falls right on March 8 [International Women's Day]," Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel.

Earlier in February, the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency received a letter from the forum's organizing committee asking Sputnik's representative to pull out of moderating a discussion on Russian topics, as its speakers and sponsors were against the arrangement. The organizers did not reveal who had voiced the objections.