Overview
- Russia’s Ministry of Justice added “Mediacorporation Deutsche Welle (‘German Wave’), Federal Republic of Germany” to its official register of foreign and international organizations deemed undesirable, according to the ministry’s website.
- Designation as undesirable under Russian law restricts an organization’s activities and cooperation inside the country and can trigger enforcement actions.
- Deutsche Welle has already been recognized in Russia as a foreign agent since March 2022.
- A State Duma commission recently said the Prosecutor General supported adding Deutsche Welle to the undesirable list.
- DW director general Barbara Massing condemned the decision as an attempt to silence independent media, and the German government denounced it as unfounded.