When Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on February 15, he will have a whole range of issues to discuss. First and foremost: the massive deployment of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. Since the Russian Foreign Ministry ordered the Deutsche Welle (DW) office to be closed last Thursday, Scholz has had another problem. He also needs to talk to Putin about media freedom.
As is usual on such trips, Scholz will also be accompanied in Moscow by a group of journalists traveling with him. When the group of journalists was put together, it became clear that the participation of Deutsche Welle is a sensitive issue for the federal government.
As DW spokesman Christoph Jumpelt confirmed to the Tagesspiegel, Deutsche Welle was not on the original first passenger list to accompany Scholz’s visit to Moscow. In doing so, he confirmed a report in the Tagesspiegel that the press and information office of the federal government had initially rejected Deutsche Welle.
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After this report, however, things got moving and the Federal Press Office issued an invitation to Deutsche Welle. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit tweeted on Saturday evening: “To avoid any misunderstandings: The German wave is invited to the Chancellor’s trip to Moscow.” DW spokesman Jumpelt said the problem had resolved over the course of Saturday “fortunately resolved”. However, the DW journalists traveling with them also depends on whether they are granted a visa by Russia.
Deutsche Welle had to close its office in Moscow
When it was initially rejected, the human rights policy spokesman for the Union faction, Michael Brand (CDU), told 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 The fact that the government closed the office of Deutsche Welle in breach 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, the chancellor usually takes a group of journalists with him in his government plane. The number of places is of course limited. This is not an invitation in the traditional sense; the media representatives pay for the flight tickets themselves.
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Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said on Friday that the Russian measures against Deutsche Welle were “completely unfounded” and contrary to press freedom. On behalf of the federal government, Büchner made an “urgent appeal” to the Russian side not to “abuse the problems surrounding the approval of the Russian broadcaster RT DE in Germany to restrict press freedom”.
In Germany, the ban on broadcasting “Deutsche Welle” triggered great criticism. Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) described the ban as an “aggressive act”. However, Roth wants to try to mediate with her Russian counterpart Olga Lyubimowa.
