This is retaliation for the same move by Berlin against journalists from Russian television.
Russia announced on Wednesday that it would expel a reporter and cameraman from Germany’s public broadcaster ARD in retaliation for the same move Berlin took against journalists from Russian state television’s First Channel (Pervyj kanal). TASR informs according to a Reuters report.
The mentioned Russian television said that Germany decided to close its Berlin newsroom, while two members of the news team – a reporter and a cameraman – were ordered to leave Germany for security reasons.
“In response to the ban imposed by the German authorities on the presence and work of reporters from the Pervyj Kanal station, we are forced to take reciprocal measures against journalists from the Moscow editorial office of the German media group ARD,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marija Zakharova said at a press conference.
As she added, two members of the ARD news team were ordered to hand over their accreditation documents and leave Russia. However, Zakharova pointed out that Russia will consider granting accreditation to other journalists from ARD if Germany creates conditions for “normal work” for their Russian colleagues.
