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The Disinformation Station
Germany Fears Influence of Russian Propaganda Channel
With RT DE, Moscow wants to provide a platform for corona skeptics, right-wing populists and leftist fans of the Kremlin to destabilize democracy in Germany. Internal emails provide insights into the media organization.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to RT in Moscow in 2015
Foto: SNA / ullstein bild
The call to order from Moscow came at 2 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2020, per video call. That Friday, RT DE, the German-language arm of the Russian state-funded television channel RT, had a news story on its website: China and Germany Are Becoming Superpowers.” According to the report, Vladimir Putin had said as much during a video conference. A photo of the Russian president was at the top of the story. Putin was further quoted as saying that the absolute dominance of the U.S. was passé.
Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday defended a decision to extend a hard lockdown in Germany by two weeks until mid-February, saying it was necessary to slow a new and more aggressive variant of the coronavirus.
Speaking at a news conference, Merkel said that while restrictions were showing results in the form of fewer new infections, it would be a mistake to ease curbs given the mutation had been identified in Germany.
“Our efforts face a threat and this threat is clearer now than at the start of the year and this is the mutation of the virus,” said Merkel.
The rate of progress is reliant on a robust and complete assessment of the quality, safety and efficacy and is determined by availability of additional information from the company to respond to questions raised during the evaluation, read an EMA statement.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen applauded the EMA decision, tweeting: Likely the first Europeans will be vaccinated before end 2020, a comment that left many on her Twitter feed asking whether the British were no longer considered Europeans.
EU countries have secured doses of vaccine but the bloc has opted for a slower, more thorough approval process rather than the abbreviated testing the vaccine was put through elsewhere. EMA says it will also review other vaccine candidates in January.