(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, JUN 26 - Austria on Wednesday summoned
Russia's representative in the country to protest over what it
called Moscow's "unprecedented" withdrawal of media
accreditation of an Austrian journalist. ORF journalist Carola
Schneider had her accreditation withdrawn on Wednesday and was
asked to leave the country, the Austrian broadcaster said. She
is the second ORF journalist to lose her accreditation, leaving
the public broadcaster without a journalist in Russia. "The
withdrawal of the accreditation of Carola Schneider, office
manager and last ORF employee in Moscow, is unprecedented," said
a foreign ministry statement. "We condemn this unjustified and
unacceptable step. This represents another arbitrary, baseless
attack on the free press in Russia," it added. The ORF called
the decision "an arbitrary act against independent reporting".
Schneider started her stint in Moscow in 2011. The Russian
foreign ministry said in a statement that the move against
Schneider was a "forced retaliatory measure in connection with
the continuing discrimination against representatives of Russian
media in Austria." (ANSA-AFP).
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