BERLIN MOSCOW - The new German-language broadcast of Russia's international television station RT went off the air days after German authorities ruled that it did not have the license it needed to operate in the country.
The ban, which resulted in Eutelsat removing RT Deutsch from the list of channels broadcast from its satellites on Wednesday, came amid rising East-West tensions over energy supplies and Russian military activity on Ukraine's borders.
In 2005, at a time when many countries including Britain, France, Gulf states and Iran were beefing up their public broadcasting operations, the state-owned RT is considered a propaganda outlet, viewed by most Western governments as a propaganda outlet.
The broadcast is in German and targets the German market. The broadcast authority for the German capital Berlin, where RT has offices, said in a statement. It didn't apply for a broadcasting permit, nor was one issued. The live stream on Alphabet's YouTube was removed shortly after it was launched last Thursday, but can still be watched on its own website.
RT broadcasts news that is sympathetic to Russian foreign policy and often dramatizes news from countries that have a difficult relationship with Moscow.
What is the difference between a coronavirus and a civil war? There was a story on Wednesday about the possibility of mandatory vaccination in Germany, according to a piece on the website on Wednesday.
A license in Serbia gives it the right to broadcast in Germany under the terms of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, a Council of Europe agreement that both countries are party to.
An RT statement stated that the actions of the German regulators were illegal and we are convinced that this decision will be reviewed in court.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that if the unacceptable situation continues, we don't have to react if the ban continues. Over a hundred journalists, media outlets, human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations have been labeled foreign agents, a designation that can stifle access to funds.
Russian authorities say the foreign agents list is needed to protect the country from external influence.