Zakharova urged France to reconsider the decision not to issue a visa to a journalist from Russia

The French authorities should reconsider the decision not to issue a visa to the Russian international journalist of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper Alexander Kudela. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on February 6.

She made this comment in response to the statement of the French Foreign Ministry calling on the Russian Federation to reconsider the decision to revoke the accreditation of Le Monde permanent correspondent in Moscow Benjamin Kenel. At the briefing, she called it a forced measure.

"We urge the French authorities to reconsider their decision not to issue a visa to the Russian journalist of Komsomolskaya Pravda," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

The diplomat said that the retaliatory measures against the French correspondent will be reconsidered immediately after the decision on the visa status of the Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist changes. In addition, Zakharova called on the French authorities to "stop harassing and intimidating Russian journalists."

Earlier in the day at a briefing, Zakharova specified that the French Embassy in Russia twice refused to grant Kudela a visa to work in Paris.

In September 2024, Zakharova said that Washington's unprecedented blocking sanctions against Russian media went beyond restrictions as such and became a full-scale declaration of war on freedom of speech on the part of the United States.

She also drew attention to the fact that specialized international organizations and human rights structures, which by duty should protect freedom of speech and pluralism of opinion, condone the current state of affairs in the matter of ensuring universal access to information "with their hypocritical silence."

Before that, Zakharova said that the West was putting pressure on Russian media because of the growing attention to them on the world stage. According to her, this is happening not only because of the desire to encroach on freedom of speech in the country, but also in order to prevent Western public figures from having a voice.