Lukashenko blocks German channels - Merkel's ambassador demands

Deutsche Welle's offers are no longer available in Belarus.

The German government criticizes the procedure.

The director directs clear words to Lukashenko.

Bonn / Minsk - The authorities in Belarus have blocked the Deutsche Welle (DW) website.

As the broadcaster announced on Friday in Bonn, the online offers are no longer available in all 32 broadcast languages.

The Ministry of Information in Minsk justified the move, according to the state agency Belta, with the fact that Deutsche Welle was linking to material that had been classified as extremist according to court orders.

Belarus: "Absolutely ridiculous" - Deutsche Welle director speaks out on allegations

Artistic director Peter Limbourg spoke of “an act of desperation” during the tour in Belarus.

"The accusation against DW is absolutely ridiculous," he said, according to a statement.

"We protest against the blocking of our offers because the people there have a right to objective information about the situation in their country," said Limbourg.

"The heavy use of independent media offers clearly shows that people in Belarus no longer trust the media controlled by the state." According to Deutsche Welle, its offerings for Belarus were expanded considerably in the spring of 2021 to include "the civil society awakening" in Belarus in the media to accompany.

The federal government has criticized the restrictions for Deutsche Welle in Belarus.

The German ambassador in Minsk had asked the Belarusian foreign ministry for an explanation about the blockade of the website of the German foreign broadcaster.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office announced on Friday in Berlin.

He demanded that access to the website “be enabled again immediately”.

In addition to DW, other news portals in Belarus are affected by the lock.

Belarus: Lukashenko takes action against independent media

The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko was officially declared the winner after the Belarusian presidential election in August 2020 despite massive allegations of fraud. Unprecedented mass protests followed, which were violently suppressed by the security authorities. Since then, Lukashenko has taken massive action against independent media, human rights organizations and those who think differently.

The EU and the USA have already imposed sanctions on the ex-Soviet republic. Lukashenko, who was criticized as the last “dictator of Europe”, is supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US embassy in Belarus has to close its press office and other offices such as the USAID development aid office under pressure from the authorities. In addition, the embassy was forced to lay off more than 20 Belarusian employees. "These measures reflect the deep uncertainty of the Belarusian authorities," it said.

The machinations of Belarus' head of state Alexander Lukashenko were also a big topic for Markus Lanz.

Lukashenko apparently wants to put the EU under pressure with controlled flows of migrants.

But the situation of the opposition in Belarus is still precarious, as an exile activist

described.

(