Xenia Fedorova employers condemn France expulsion order

Xenia Fedorova's French employers condemned France's order expelling the pro-Kremlin journalist, saying the decision would violate freedom of expression.

Canal+, owner of the CNews television channel, and Lagardere, which owns Europe 1 radio, said in a joint statement on Wednesday that preventing Fedorova from taking part in public debate would be “a particularly serious infringement of freedom of expression and diversity of opinion”. They said they had learned of the Interior Ministry decision with “astonishment”.

France ordered Fedorova, a Russian journalist and television commentator, to leave the country, the Interior Ministry said on July 29.

French newspaper Liberation cited the expulsion order as accusing Fedorova of acting as a channel for disinformation campaigns organised by Russian authorities with the aim of destabilising public order in France.

Fedorova is a former journalist for Russia's state-run channel RT. RT France was shut down in 2023, a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

She later became a commentator for outlets linked to conservative billionaire Vincent Bollore's media group. She appears on CNews television and Europe 1 radio and writes a column for Le Journal du Dimanche.

The case comes as France heads for a presidential election next year, with disinformation specialists raising concerns about Fedorova's influence on French television and radio.