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“The way in which the issue of granting a license to the RT DE channel was included in the agenda indicates that they wanted to make this decision quickly. Knowing what kind of relationship between Serbia and Russia, there is an assumption that this may be due to a lower gas price. We still have not heard an official explanation of why this was done and why in Serbia, ”said Denis Kolundzija, a journalist who researches the Serbian media space.
It is obvious to experts that in order to win the elections, Vucic, among other things, needs a stable energy situation, but he does not have many opportunities to ensure it, given the current market conditions, when the gas price in Europe reaches $ 2,000 per thousand cubic meters. For Serbia, this price is left at $ 270. Thus, small services to the Kremlin, such as issuing a license for a propaganda channel, for many observers look quite logical.
Since Serbia is a candidate for EU membership, it is not difficult to predict the negative reaction of European partners to Belgrade’s support for the propaganda TV channel. Brussels often criticizes Vucic for refusing to align its foreign policy with the European one. However, the prospect of joining the EU is constantly receding. Against this background, the Serbian authorities are increasingly making concessions to their eastern allies – Moscow and Beijing.
Recently, the German media regulator launched an investigation into RT on suspicion of violating broadcasting rules in Germany: they believe that the channel launched an online program in German without having a license to broadcast in Germany. According to the representative of the regulator Eva Flecken, the organizers of the broadcast have time until the end of the year to “comment on the situation.” At the same time, RT claims that the license obtained in Serbia is enough for them.
According to the DPA agency, earlier RT tried to obtain a license for broadcasting in German in Luxembourg, but was refused and decided to enter through Serbia. Formally, the Serbian license allows broadcasting in 33 European countries, but German officials argue that a separate license is required for broadcasting in Germany. Based on the results of the investigation, a decision may be made to ban broadcasting, and a fine of up to 500 thousand euros is also possible.
RT Deputy Editor-in-Chief Anna Belkina said that the claims are not being made on the RT DE channel broadcasting from Moscow, but on RT DE Productions, which produces content for this channel. She stressed that this company does not broadcast television, and therefore, in her opinion, “the claim is completely unfounded and even absurd”: “RT DE has all the rights to broadcast in Germany and in other 32 European countries. The broadcasting license was obtained in accordance with all applicable European laws and regulations, including the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. “
In September, YouTube removed two RT DE channels permanently for “community rule violations.” Google clarified that the channels were blocked due to content containing false information about COVID-19. On December 16, RT launched the YouTube channel RT auf Sendung to rebroadcast the live broadcast of RT DE. On the same day, the hosting deleted the channel. RT chief editor Margarita Simonyan called what was happening “a real media war” declared to Russia. Google’s press service said the decision was made in connection with a violation of YouTube’s community guidelines. According to the rules of the platform, the owner of a previously deleted channel cannot create new ones in order to bypass the ban.
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