Russia closes office of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle

Moscow: Russia said on Thursday that, it is closing the Moscow bureau of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and revoking staff accreditations in Russia, in response to Berlin's ban on the German-language channel of Russian state TV network RT.

Deutsche Welle called the decision absurd and a complete overreaction. The German government said the move was unacceptable and had no basis of comparison whatsoever with Berlin's ruling on RT.

Germany's Culture Minister Claudia Roth said that, she urgently appeal to the Russian side not to abuse RT's licensing problems for a political reaction.

The announcement



comes with tensions mounting between Russia and the West, particularly over fears of a Russian invasion of Europe's ally Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday it will also terminate the satellite and other broadcasting (output) of Deutsche Welle on Russian territory.

Deutsche Welle -- a German state-owned broadcaster -- has services in 30 languages, including Russian.

The moves comes after Germany's broadcasting regulator on Wednesday announced it was banning the transmission of the channel "RT DE" over the lack of a broadcasting licence.