Luxembourg will not host the German version of the Russian channel RT

It’s a no. Luxembourg has refused to grant a license to Russian television station RT to allow it to broadcast in German from that country, authorities said. “The media, communications and digital service considered that Luxembourg was not the competent jurisdiction for RT auf Deutsch insofar as the technical criteria are not met,” according to a statement released on Saturday by the Prime Minister’s office. Luxembourg Minister, Xavier Bettel.

“As the broadcaster has an office in Germany, where a significant proportion of the employees involved in the production of audiovisual services are located, RT auf Deutsch must be placed under the jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of Germany. The RT channel is under the direct control of the Kremlin.

Bypass German law

In June, the channel applied for a satellite broadcasting license in Luxembourg, in order to circumvent German law prohibiting the granting of an audiovisual license to foreign state-owned media. “The Luxembourg government has a certain latitude to refuse a request. He has chosen to consider that he is not territorially competent insofar as all of RT’s resources are in Berlin, ”said the president of the independent audiovisual authority of the Grand Duchy, Thierry Hoscheit.

RT said in a statement that he had received the response from the Luxembourg authorities and that his lawyers “were examining the letter to decide on the next steps” to be taken. RT, which broadcasts in particular also in English, French and Spanish, is considered part of the Kremlin’s international propaganda efforts.