Russia accuses Austria of blockade because of refusal to grant visas to journalists from Crimea
Austria has refused to issue visas to journalists from the annexed Crimea, for which Russia accused it of an information blockade.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, expressed her outrage at Austria’s actions, Tass news agency reports.
“The situation of not granting visas to Crimeans can be called a blockade,” she said.
“Today, unfortunately, we witnessed another unpleasant incident, when journalists from Crimea were not admitted to an event connected with the OSCE. They have been approved for the event, but Austria has not issued them visas. This is a glaring injustice and, unfortunately, it is not the first time,” she added.
According to Zakharova, the fact that journalists are not allowed to speak about the situation in Crimea and answer questions is an “information blockade and blockade of movements.”
Earlier, Russia accused the EU of “visa genocide” of Crimeans, who can only obtain American visas in the US consulates in Ukraine.