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Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (in January)
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is to be accompanied by a reporter and a cameraman from Deutsche Welle on his trip to Moscow on February 15.
"To avoid any misunderstandings: Deutsche Welle has been invited to the Chancellor's trip to Moscow," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit tweeted on Saturday evening.
The "Tagesspiegel" had previously reported that the press and information office of the federal government had initially rejected the German foreign broadcaster, which Russia had imposed a broadcasting ban on Thursday. A spokesman for Deutsche Welle confirmed this on request. After the rejection, however, you have now received a commitment, he said in the evening. However, traveling with them also depends on whether the person concerned is granted a visa by Russia.
In response to the preliminary rejection, the human rights policy spokesman for the Union faction Michael Brand (CDU) said in the "Tagesspiegel": "The German Chancellor, who does not take Deutsche Welle, the only German foreign broadcaster, with him on a trip to the country whose government is under The fact that the Deutsche Welle office was closed in violation of international norms is not only politically cowardly, but also shows the problem of this chancellor, who no longer even wants to defend the fundamental right to a free press. This is a unique process and to put it in plain English, Mr. Scholz: a real shame!«
When he travels in his government plane, the chancellor is usually accompanied by a group of more than 20 journalists who pay for their own plane tickets. However, the demand is always greater than the number of seats on the plane. Deutsche Welle, together with other media, was initially rejected for capacity reasons, said a government spokesman for the German Press Agency on request. In subsequent discussions with the broadcaster, however, a "constructive solution" was found.
Russia had banned Deutsche Welle from broadcasting, ordered the closure of the correspondent's office in Moscow and the withdrawal of journalists' accreditations.
With this, Moscow apparently reacted on Thursday to the fact that the German-language program of its state broadcaster RT DE no longer has a license in the Federal Republic.
The Federal Foreign Office condemned the broadcasting ban on Deutsche Welle as a further strain on German-Russian relations.
jso/dpa
