Prague, Nov 12 (CTK) – The Czech Foreign Ministry has declined to extend the accreditation of Russian journalist Alexander Kuranov, who has worked as a correspondent in the Czech Republic so far, the Czech server Neovlivni.cz has written, adding that similar steps are usually aimed against foreign spies.
Addressed by CTK, the ministry did not tell the reason of its decision.
Kuranov´s Czech accreditation expired in late August.
According to Neovlivni.cz, Kuranov worked in the Czech Republic as a freelance reporter accredited for two state media – the Kremlin-financed RIA Novosti agency and the news stations network Russia Yesterday.
“The reasons that led to the decision not to extend the journalist accreditation of Alexander Kuranov are classified under the law on the protection of classified information… Nevertheless, we can confirm that the Foreign Ministry has declined his application,” the ministry said in a press release.
The accreditation the Czech Foreign Ministry grants to foreign journalists are valid for one year and can be extended.
“A long-term accreditation of foreign journalists authorises them to attend events staged by the Foreign Ministry. It can be required from foreign journalists also by other organisations that invite the media to their events,” the ministry said.
In the past years, the Czech Republic and Russia expelled each other´s diplomats several times. Less often, the authorities decided not to extend the accreditation of the other country´s journalist.
In February 2010, the Russian Foreign Ministry did not extend the accreditation of Josef Pazderka, then public Czech Television´s (CT) reporter in Moscow. It was probably a step of retaliation for the same step Prague took against Russian journalist Vladimir Silkin in 2009.
A similar situation occurred in 2006, when the Russian authorities did not extend the accreditation of CT reporter Jan Molacek.
According to the media, it was a reciprocal step that Moscow took after Leonid Sviridov, correspondent of the Russian government RIA Novosti agency, was forced to terminate his work in the Czech Republic.
rtj/dr
