Postraly from Moscow

France is offered to deprive the RT channel license

On May 29, at a press conference, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron accused the Russian state information agencies in Russia Today and the Sputnik of spreading false news and propaganda.

Six months passed, and on December 18, RT channel began broadcasting in French. Two days later, a letter of French culture figures appeared in the Le Mond newspaper with an appeal to the head of the Higher Council for French audiovisual funds to deprive the license television channel. The authors of the letter are sure that Russia Today sows discord, weakens democracy and broadcasts the Kremlin propaganda.

The deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov threatened with response measures regarding the French media working in Russia, if the license is withdrawn, and the chairman of the Commission of the Federation Council on Information Policy Alexei Pushkov responded as follows:

In the Mond newspaper, a group of 11 Russophobes requires to close RT in France. I hope that the country's authorities do not listen to the voice of the totalitarian sect.

- Alexey Pushkov (@alexey_pushkov) December 21, 2017

One of the authors of the letter, Antoine Arzhakovsky, French theologian, historian, author of the books " Russia - Ukraine: from war to world? " (2015) and "West - Russia: how to get out of the conflict?" (2017), answered questions from Radio Liberty.

- What, in your opinion, is the danger of broadcasting of the French television channel RT?

The post -truth is based on the belief that there is no objective side of facts at all, but there are only interpretations

- You should distinguish information from propaganda. Information is respect for the facts. This is what the British call four W - What, when, who and What: what, when, who and where. There is another fifth W - Who, why. Good journalism is respect for objectively, it is four W, as well as a discussion, interpretation of facts. This differs from another understanding of information called propaganda. We recently organized a post -truth conference. The post -truth is based on Nietzscanism, on nihilism, on the belief that there is no objective side of facts at all, but there are only interpretations. And if there is no truth, then information is only a language of power that wins. Peter Pomerantsev writes about this: if there is no truth, then everything is possible. And then it turns out a hybrid war that leads to internal conflicts, since the mind no longer functions, there are only emotions. The main emotion is, of course, fear. Fear of migrants, fear of terrorists, fear of migrants-terrorists and so on. Society is separated, since there is no reason, there is no distance. This is very dangerous, and colleagues from France universities call our State Media Council to suspend the RT license, since we see that this has already given poor consequences in other countries where RT operates in English.

- How is freedom of speech? Are you not afraid that you will be accused of an effort to impose political censorship?

I'm not Russophobe at all, I really love Russia, I have many friends there, I lived there for a long time, I have Russian roots

- No, we share information and propaganda. Democracy is a legal state, it is not a bazaar where everyone says that he wants, it leads only to anarchy. If there is compliance with the rules, then, of course, the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of self -expression must be observed. Therefore, we very insist on this semantic difference: propaganda is not information. Propaganda is what is carried out against democracy, what is used to divide people for the dissolution of the European community project. We see what happened in England with Brexit, and the role that RT played there, the "satellite" and all these trolls on Facebook. Teresa May explained that one of the reasons for Brexit is the propaganda that is conducted from Russia. The Minister of Defense of Spain said the same thing. Mr. Macron, when he invited President Putin, said the same thing. In America, in general, RT becomes a "foreign agent". Trolls have already appeared today, who say that I am Russophobe. This is not true, I am not at all Russophobe, I really love Russia, I have many friends there, I lived there for a long time, I have Russian roots. We love Russia and want to explain to our friends that this is not Russophobia at all - this is in the name of love for Russia, for the history of Russia, for all Russians who should open their eyes to what is happening in the world. More and more people are afraid of Russia, Russian government fears, and, unfortunately, because of this, Russians are generally.

They look at the first day of RT France and see that everything is fine in North Korea, people live well there

Of course, I understand that there are free media, like freedom or "border.ru", there are people who make the separation between propaganda and information. But it is very difficult to explain to my French colleagues who do not read in Russian at all. They look at the first day of RT France and see the information that everything is fine in North Korea, there people live well there. They tell me: they are generally awesome, these Russians, they think that North Korea is the country of the world and miracles. It is very difficult to explain that no, not all Russians think so. It is ridiculous that RT believes that they can convince the intelligentsia, smart people with such information. I am very sorry, because it will harm the Russian people, because it is a loss of trust. Not to mention money, because they announced that this year Russia gives more than 20 million euros for the RT France budget is a lot of money. Now is a dangerous time, there are big conflicts in the world, Europeans, including Russians, could unite in order to find a way out of the situation together. We also have our own problems, we could meet and find a way out. I am convinced, for example, that in the war between Russia and Ukraine there is a path to reconciliation. We had the same thing in Western Europe between France and Germany, and we found a peaceful exit. Not through propaganda, not through hybrid wars, but we found a way out of the conflict through the discussion, through a new approach to history, through exchanges, through human paths. France and Germany eventually reconciled and created together the European political project, the European community. Now what Russia does is in a bad direction. Therefore, we wrote this letter and want everyone to pay attention to this serious problem.

- In general, the presence of Putin Russia in France is felt more and more. Last year, a huge cultural center was opened right near the Eiffel Tower. You didn't go there?

Когда появляется посольство, которое использует религию, чтобы продвигать свои политические цели, это шокирует французскую ментальность

- No, I didn’t go and I’m not going to, because I think that this is a project that will not be successful, because politics and religion are mixed here. This cannot work in France, where the church is separated from the state. I want to remind you that the same tradition was in Russia a long time ago. Metropolitan Philip Moscow, the head of the Russian Church in the 16th century, could tell the truth to Ivan the Terrible. We have the same tradition in France. Therefore, when an embassy appears that uses religion to promote its political goals, it shocks French mentality, it is even a little ashamed. And vice versa, how can you imagine a culture if there is constantly a church from behind, which also has its own political vision? I believe that this big money goes for a bad business. I am very sorry about this, because we could, on the contrary, have a lot of what to do together. Many French intellectuals see problems in France, in Western Europe, in general the world is now in a crisis, we could do a lot with Russia. And what is proposed is spoiling the chances of truth, justice and reconciliation.

- I met young Europeans who like to watch RT and say that interesting alternative information is proposed there. The forbidden fruit, as you know, is sweet. Will it happen that after calls for a ban, interest in RT will only increase?

More people who will be afraid of Russia will become more

- I do not see how he can rise if they say that North Korea is a country of miracles. No, there is zero chances. Of course, we have people who are against everything, they live poorly, they are unhappy, they are afraid of everything. It is clear that if there is some kind of media, which is also against everything that constantly incites fears, then these people will be interested. But this will not give more strength of Russia, on the contrary, it will be more problematic: more people who will be afraid of Russia will become more. I am talking not only about investors, but also about politicians. You remember what Macron said. At first, he was very interested in developing a business with Russia, developing relations with Putin, especially with regard to the Middle East, and after RT and the "satellite" constantly provided information against him, he stopped relations with Russia, said: wait, we cannot work like that. He called RT and the “satellite” by propaganda agents, he said: if Russia acts like this, then you just need to continue sanctions and wait until smart people, democrats who are interested in truth, peace and justice appear in Russia. So this is a simple example - Macron's reaction. I worked in ecumenical environments, it was the same, in the 90s everyone was delighted that Russia was finally opening, that the church was becoming free. The World Council of Churches gladly invited students from Russia, from Ukraine, Belarus. But now, when we see how again the Orthodox Church says that everything was good in Stalin's times, that in fact, Stalin defeated the war, that now the liberal world is going to decadence, people think that it is not serious, it shows that the church is still not open to modernity, for the fact that Western countries have passed several centuries ago. Therefore, disappointment is only growing. The Russians themselves understand that this does not benefit them, then they themselves become more and more anti -Western, because they see that they are not listening there, trust is lost. Therefore, this is very bad. I am very sorry and I hope that thanks to such channels as freedom, there are still smart people who are ready to fight against this.

- You know that France is already threatened in Russia that if the RT license is withdrawn, the French media in Russia will begin problems. What do you say about the responses in France to your letter? You said that trolls from Russia are already attacking you ...

Propaganda and hybrid war can only violate balance

- It is impossible to compare RT in French and the presence of French journalists in Russia. There is no French television channel that broadcasts in Russia in Russian. The deputy in the Duma, who thinks so, is ridiculous, it is not serious. But basically, those people whom I see, of course, agree. They see what happened in America during a vote in previous elections, they saw what was happening in Spain, Great Britain, Germany. Therefore, they understand that propaganda and hybrid war can only violate balance. As for me, this is not so important, because I have been working with Russia for a long time, many criticized me. People who love Russia love Ukraine who love the world, know that I want peace. I worked for a long time in the ecumenical movement, on diplomatic work, I have many friends in Russia and Ukraine. In fact, the most important thing is true. True has great power. Therefore, when the trolls opposed me on Twitter and in other places, readers understand that what I say is serious.