Russian Ambassador to Berlin Says Moscow to React to RT DE Clampdown

BERLIN (Sputnik) - Moscow will certainly react to the termination of the broadcasting of the RT DE channel in Germany, with consequences for German journalists in Russia as a possibility, Russian Ambassador to Berlin Sergey Nechaev said in an interview to German news agency DPA, published on Sunday.

"A reaction will certainly follow from the Russian side," Nechaev told DPA.

The diplomat did not clarify what form the reaction would take but noted that there were many options.

"There are many German journalists in Russia," Nechaev said.

At the same time, the ambassador stressed that Moscow does not want tensions to escalate.

"We do not want a conflict. We only want our broadcaster in Germany to be given the same rights and opportunities, and to be able to work in peace," Nechaev added.

When asked if Deutsche Welle might face some restrictions in Russia, the diplomat said the reaction is these situations was not about doing something "automatically."

"I would rather not look too far ahead. I am still hoping that RT will no longer be under pressure in Germany," the ambassador said.

In December, RT announced the launch of the RT DE news channel in German. A German media regulator MABB launched an investigation into RT DE Productions GmbH on December 17. A few days later, RT said that MABB had urged Eutelsat 9В network provider to remove RT DE from its broadcasting package. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Moscow would react to this attempt to block RT DE.

The launch of RT DE has been surrounded by controversy in the European Union. In August, RT DE was refused a broadcasting license in Luxembourg after reportedly receiving some data from the German authorities. In September, YouTube removed two RT DE channels without the right of recovery for alleged "violations of community rules."