Moscow considers unacceptable French rejection of Russian reporters

Russia receives negatively the refusal of France to accredit several Russian journalists for the Olympic Games in Paris, the spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, declared today.

The attitude of our government to the French decision is extremely negative, the spokesman replied to a question from the press accredited to the Russian presidency on how the Kremlin assesses the Paris decision.

He also stressed that Moscow considers the French refusal “unacceptable” as it directly infringes on freedom of the press and violates all of France’s commitments to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international bodies.

Russia, he continued, expects a reaction to these French actions from relevant human rights organizations and organizations engaged in ensuring the foundations and rules of media freedom.

On Sunday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin admitted in statements to a local media outlet that some Russian journalists had been denied accreditation to cover the Olympics, citing alleged espionage and cyberattacks.

In particular, the Paris Olympics organizing committee denied accreditation to five journalists from the RIA Novosti Sport news agency.

The Paris Summer Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11.