The bank accounts of RT France, the French subsidiary of the Russian channel RT that is suspended in the European Union, have been frozen, their unions denounced this Friday. Bercy specified that the chain’s assets had been frozen in application of the most recent European sanctions and not at the initiative of the French State.
A source in Bercy stressed that this measure came from the “last package of European sanctions” last December. Unlike the initial sanctions decided after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, those adopted in December provide for an “asset freeze” of the targeted entities, the same source said. Among these entities is “ANO TV Novosti, parent company that owns 100% of RT France”, which therefore explains the freezing of “RT France’s assets”, continued the Bercy source.
RT France continues to broadcast content that can be viewed through a VPN
Accused of being instruments of “disinformation” by the Kremlin, the Sputnik and RT media (including its French version RT France) were banned from broadcasting in the EU as of March 2, on television and the internet, following an agreement of the Twenty-seven shortly after the start of the war.
Apprehended by RT France, the European justice confirmed this decision in July. This initial sanctions package only banned the broadcast of RT’s content in the EU, not the production itself. Thus, until now, RT France continues to produce and broadcast content, which can be consulted despite the ban via a virtual private network (VPN), a service that allows you to browse the web bypassing the blockade.
The French situation is particular because, since the suspension of RT in Germany at the end of 2021, France was the only EU Member State to host an RT subsidiary on its territory. The freezing of the assets of RT France “questions the state of our democracy, where a medium can be disconnected immediately without any other form of debate,” denounced the unions of the chain.
Source: BFM TV
