Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned France’s decision to deport high-profile Russian media personality Ksenia Fedorova, calling the move “unacceptable.”
French authorities issued a deportation order last month for Fedorova, the former head of state broadcaster RT France. Fedorova has recently emerged as a prominent commentator on conservative French outlets, including CNews, Europe 1 and JDNews.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has accused Fedorova of acting as an “agent of influence,” while Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez accused her of spreading Russian disinformation aimed at undermining France’s “fundamental interests.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Fadyev strongly denounced the order on Thursday. “We consider the persecution of journalists on trumped-up charges to be unacceptable and strongly condemn it,” Fadyev said.
“The expulsion of Ksenia Fedorova, as an act of reprisal against a rebellious journalist, came as no surprise to us, as we have long been observing the actions of the French leadership, which obsessively attributes a ‘Russian connection’ to every problem in the country,” Fadyev added.
Fedorova, who has denounced the deportation order as state censorship, lost a legal challenge to block the move on Monday after a Paris court rejected her appeal.
