Italy condemns Russia's sanctions against European media saying it does not erase consequences of brutal war

The Italian Foreign Ministry has reacted to and condemned the decision by the Russian authorities to restrict the broadcasting of more than 80 European media outlets in Russia, including, in particular, Italian television channels Rai and La7 and newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa.

"By choosing to use destructive violence in Ukraine, [...] the leadership of the Russian Federation has committed actions that are contrary to international law and every principle of legality and civilised coexistence. All this will not be erased by imposing bans on Italian and international media," the Italian Foreign Ministry states.

The Italian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the decision to restrict the broadcasting of these media outlets, saying: "The information provided by these media outlets has been objective, and in any case based on an independent interpretation of the facts following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation."

They added that the decision to impose sanctions "does not remove or mitigate the effects of a violent, devastating and illegal war".

On 25 June, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow was imposing broadcast and access restrictions on 81 European media outlets.

Among those affected by Russia's sanctions are Germany's Spiegel, Zeit and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Spain's Mundo, Pais and EFE; Italy's Stampa, Repubblica and RAI; France's Le Monde, Liberation and France-Presse; and Europe's Politico and Euobserver.

Moscow said that these were measures in response to the Council of the EU's 17 May decision to ban Russian propaganda media: RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Commenting on Russia’s decision, Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, said that it demonstrated "continuous violation of media freedom by the Kremlin".