DW – Joint meeting of Broadcasting Council and Administrative Board on the withdrawal of accreditation in Russia

Director General Peter Limbourg briefed the bodies on the present situation of DW staff in Russia, who were forced to cease their journalistic activities on the morning of February 4, 2022 at 9:00.

"What we are witnessing here is an unbelievable blow to press freedom," said Broadcasting Council Chairman Prelate Karl Jüsten. "We call on Russia's authorities to immediately reverse the withdrawal of DW's accreditation and the closure of the office."

The argument used by Russia is a specious one, he said. According to Jüsten, it is completely inappropriate to equate the licensing of RT Deutsch with the journalistic work of DW in Russia, because unlike RT Deutsch, the German government has no influence on DW's programming, he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, which is responsible for the accreditation of foreign journalists, has invited DW's Moscow Bureau Chief for a meeting to discuss the next steps after having ordered the DW office closure.

Director General Peter Limbourg: "We strongly hope that the Russian side will revise its completely exaggerated decision. Should DW be prevented from performing journalistic work in Russia in the long term, we will of course find ways to continue reporting on developments in that country. But the Russian side is also denying itself the opportunity to present their views firsthand in our program."

On February 3, 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry had sent an e-mail to Juri Rescheto, DW Moscow Bureau Chief, informing him of the measures taken against DW.

Excerpt from the e-mail:

We hereby inform you that in response to the Federal Republic of Germany's unfriendly actions to prohibit satellite and other broadcasting of the German-language television channel RT DE, the accreditation of employees of the office of the television and radio company Deutsche Welle will thus be revoked by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as of February 4, 2022. The correspondent office of the television and radio company "Deutsche Welle" in Russia will be considered closed as of 9:00 am tomorrow, February 4, 2022.

Yours sincerely,

Press Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia

End of quote

The 19 accredited DW staff in Moscow; journalists, cameramen and technicians had subsequently yielded their accreditations to the Russian Foreign Ministry in due time. The DW Moscow bureau ceased operations on the morning of February 4, 2022.

DW had opened the correspondent office in the Russian capital in 1993. DW had had broadcasting licenses for its TV channels DW English and DW Deutsch in Russia since 2005. The licenses, now withdrawn by the Russian media authority, were valid until 2025 for DW English and until 2027 for DW Deutsch.