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Putin Tangles with Austrian TV before Visit
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to make an official visit to Austria May 23-24. Austria, as a member of the EU but not NATO, is seen in Russia as a potential lobbyist of its interests in the West. It also has been critical of American plans to place antimissile installments in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Austrian embassy was involved in scheduling an interview with the Russian president on Austrian ORF television, however, that interview has been cancelled because of “unfriendly reportage before the state visit,” according to the station.
The Austrian television channel had announced that, along with the interview with Putin, there would be coverage of conditions in Chechnya. “They just told us that the coverage in tendentious and because of that it would be improper to give an interview,” ORF Moscow bureau chief Suzanne Scholl explained.
Later, the Kremlin changed its position. “Announcements cannot be and were not the reason for the rescheduling of the planned interview with Austrian media,” the Kremlin press service told Interfax. Rather, the interview was cancelled to avoid discriminating against any Austrian media. Along with ORF, reporters from German RTL television and two Austrian newspapers were to meet the Russian president.
“It was not a bad opportunity to explain the Russian position,” the Austrian Foreign Ministry commented about the cancelled interview. The Austrian Amnesty International office sent a letter to Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer urging him to speak firmly with Putin on the subject of human rights and freedom of speech in Russia. The human rights organization's request has becoming harder to ignore.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 21, 2007
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