The campaign of the French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Friday that it had denied the pro-Kremlin media outlets Sputnik and Russia Today accreditations to cover the rest of his campaign. On Sunday, after it became clear that Mr. Macron and Marine Le Pen would face each other in the election runoff on May 7, the news media descended on Macron headquarters. But journalists from RT, Sputnik and Ruptly, a Russian video news agency, were denied access. Other Russian media outlets were accredited for the event, according to a spokeswoman for the campaign, who said RT and Sputnik were considered “alternative media” that produce “propaganda.”
In a weekly briefing in Moscow on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria V. Zakharova, described the decision as “outrageous.” She said the “prohibitive measures” were “purposeful and blatant discrimination of the Russian media by a candidate to the presidency of a state that historically stood up for freedom of speech.”
Ms. Zakharova said the decision was in line with previous “unsupported accusations against RT and Sputnik” made by the Macron campaign, and she called on the French authorities “to pay special attention to the violation of media rights in the course of the presidential elections.”
Full Article: Macron Denies Access to 2 Russian Media Outlets in French Campaign – The New York Times.