Berlin (dpa) — The Russian Foreign Ministry held a two-hour talk with the German ambassador on Friday over a dispute about the treatment of Russian state media correspondents, as Berlin rejected claims of mistreatment.
German envoy Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said as he left the building that there had been a long and interesting talk in which the preconditions for the work of correspondents were discussed, according to Russian media reports,
He said that the dialogue would continue, but did not provide any details.
The German Foreign Office later rejected Russia’s accusations regarding the treatment of Russian state media correspondents by German authorities.
“In contrast to the increasingly harsh repression of journalists in Russia, the principles of the rule of law and freedom of the press apply in Germany,” the Foreign Office said.
The German ambassador had also emphasized this to the Russian Foreign Ministry in no uncertain terms, it said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had summoned Lambsdorff “to inform him of retaliatory measures in response to the persecution of Russian journalists,” a ministry spokesman told Russian state news agency TASS.
Russian media reported that the case concerned a journalist working for a Russian state media holding company whose visa was not extended by immigration authorities in Berlin.
The Berlin State Office for Immigration said in a statement that the man had been denied an extension of his expired residence permit. The passports of his wife and daughter were confiscated, a spokesman said in response to a query.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused German authorities of doing everything they can to ensure that Russian journalists leave the country.
At the International Economic Forum in St Petersburg last week, Zakharova threatened countermeasures against German journalists in Russia.
In November, Russia expelled two employees of German public broadcaster ARD amid a similar dispute. At that time, the residency permits of two men working for Russian state television in Berlin were not renewed.
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