MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) Moscow has for many years not been able to get the European Union to provide a list of requirements for Russian journalists to enter and work on the bloc's territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday.
"We are told every time that our journalists are expelled that they have violated certain visa requirements, provisions on accreditation, and so on. I would like to say once again: for many years we have not been able to get the representative office of the European Union in Moscow to provide us with a list of norms of the member countries that would clarify the guidelines for journalists to work in a [member] country and enter the EU territory," Zakharova said at a briefing.
The spokeswoman named the most recent situation with the Sputnik Estonia news agency as an example. In late October, Estonian branches of international banks froze the media outlet's salary wires, tax payments and office rent.
Zakharova stressed that Russia has always had such requirements in the public domain.
"In one way or another, these [Russian] norms have not changed, they are understandable, accessible, we are always open to provide consultative and logistical assistance in [document] processing. Such an easy-to-understand list of requirements that the European Union could provide us with, as long as partners in Tallinn say that Russian media, I quote, are 'under EU sanctions,' we still can't get it," the foreign ministry's spokeswoman said.
According to Zakharova, such repressive steps are a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law that ensure freedom of expression and equal access to information.
"It's amazing that such persecution of the media is generally practiced in countries that consider themselves European democracies," the official said.
Pressure on Russian media is a regular occurrence in the Baltic countries. The Russian Foreign Ministry considers it to be an orchestrated campaign by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which renders their declared commitment to the freedom of speech merely rhetoric.
