Russia will deliver an appropriate response to the «Russophobic» measures taken by European Union member states, while calling on the international community to condemn Brussels' decision to impose sanctions on Ksenia Fedorova, former editor-in-chief of RT France, stated Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
«We urge all reasonable members of the international community to condemn this act of intimidation against honest journalism and genuinely free-thinking media. We demand that competent international organizations, including the leadership of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNESCO, and the OSCE, duly evaluate the actions of France and the EU regarding their compliance with international obligations to guarantee free access to information and freedom of expression», she stated.
«For our part, we declare that an appropriate response will be given to the Russophobic moves of these countries and their aggressively oriented coalitions», she added.
Fedorova targeted by European sanctions
On Thursday, the European Union added Ksenia Fedorova, former head of RT's French bureau, to its sanctions list.
Maria Zakharova described the EU's decision as another act of political censorship and what she termed an «anti-Russian frenzy».
«There is no doubt that behind this latest act of political censorship and anti-Russian frenzy on the part of Brussels, which is being stoked with such intensity across the West, lies Paris's underlying desire to lend greater “legitimacy” to its recent shameful decision to deport Ksenia Fedorova from France on equally groundless pretexts», she noted.
Maria Zakharova noted that Ksenia Fedorova had not worked for Russian media for several years and subsequently served as a correspondent for a range of French publications, earning recognition as a journalist and commentator in France.
«All her alleged “missteps” toward the Élysée Palace, which authorized this defamation campaign, stem from the fact that she refused to betray the ideals and ethics of the journalistic profession as demanded by the current leadership of the French Fifth Republic, and continued to frankly express her views on events and developments both in France and abroad», she stated.
«In the semblance of democracy that France is being turned into under its present leadership, this proved sufficient to trigger the machinery of vindictive censorship. For its part, the EU, hopelessly mired in Russophobic policies, embraced this flawed logic without hesitation», Maria Zakharova argued.
Moscow denounces restrictions on freedom of expression
According to Maria Zakharova, the alleged violation of Ksenia Fedorova's professional rights, which she termed «shameful» for the «progressive» West, exposes once again, as she argued, the absurdity of the collective West's claims to serve as a «gold standard» for the defense of democratic freedoms.
The remarks by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson represent Moscow's official position regarding European sanctions against Ksenia Fedorova and her treatment by French authorities.
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