The European Union sanctions Xenia Fedorova, former head of RT France
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the extension of European sanctions against the columnist, already targeted by an expulsion order in France.
Quick Look
- The European Union has imposed sanctions on Xenia Fedorova, former boss of RT France.
- This decision extends the French measures of expulsion and freezing of assets taken this summer against the columnist, accused of carrying out destabilizing activities.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Xenia Fedorova was subject to an expulsion order and an asset freeze in July for her alleged links to Kremlin propaganda.
Xenia Fedorova is now targeted by continental sanctions. “The European Union has just sanctioned Xenia Fedorova, following on from the measures taken this summer by France against the former director of RT France, targeted by an expulsion order and a freezing of her assets,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced this Thursday on X. “France, like the European Union, will continue to hinder the destabilizing activities carried out by Russia on our soil,” welcomes the minister. “Our determination is complete: those who think they can carry out maneuvers hostile to our democracy with impunity will suffer the consequences.”
At the end of July, Russian columnist for CNews Xenia Fedorova, former boss of the Russian state channel RT in France and accused of being the voice of the Kremlin in French media, was given a ministerial expulsion order and notified of the freezing of her assets. She has been abroad ever since. In August, the Paris administrative court twice rejected an appeal for interim relief against this expulsion. To justify her decree, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez notably pointed to “numerous comments that she was able to make and which systematically repeat the Kremlin's propaganda on France's commitment” and on “the motivations for Russian aggression in Ukraine”.
Since then, Xenia Fedorova no longer appears on CNews but continues to write for the weekly JDNews, another property of the Bolloré group. At the beginning of September, CNews presenter Gauthier Le Bret announced that “Xenia Federova is not prevented from intervening remotely via video on the antenna” and that she “will be able to return very soon to the CNews antenna to deliver her analysis, her expertise via video, remotely, since the French government prevents her from being in France”. “Why open these studios, these columns, give opportunities, give media resources, media time to someone who is proven to be working in the service of Russia against France and against the European Union?”, criticized Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in response.
Open Questions
- What will be the concrete consequences of European sanctions on its assets?
