Relief at the German wave (DW) - but a taste remains: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that the German broadcaster will not be deprived of accreditation for the country. Thus, Lavrov ended a months-long dispute over the work permit for DW journalists in Russia.
The Ministry does not support any ideas, any medium, nor DW to withdraw accreditation, Lavrov said in Moscow at a media conference organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The dispute had begun in the summer. At that time, there were mass protests in Moscow for free and fair elections, which arrested hundreds of peaceful demonstrators and several journalists from Western media. Among them was an employee of Deutsche Welle.
The Russian Foreign Ministry then accused the station because of a tweet, called to participate in the protests and thus interfered in Russian domestic policy. However, the DW denied this vehemently and pointed out that it is in the words published in Russian "Moscow, go on the road!" was a quote. Nevertheless, many Russian politicians called for DW journalists to withdraw accreditation or not extend it.
Foreign Minister Maas also intervened
The conflict dragged on for weeks, even the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas intervened and emphatically rejected the allegations. After all, representatives of DW were even summoned to an investigation in the Russian parliament, but the station refused.
DW welcomes that there will be no sanctions. This would have been "in no way justified," said DW spokesman Christoph Jumpelt the SPIEGEL. One point of contention, however, remains: Lavrov claimed Wednesday that the station had admitted errors at a meeting in the State Department. "They admitted that was not entirely correct," Lavrov said. DW speaker Jumpelt denied: This statement must be "a misunderstanding".