Xenia Fedorova loses appeal against France expulsion

A Paris court has rejected an appeal against France's expulsion order for Russian television commentator Xenia Fedorova, whose case has drawn condemnation from Moscow.

Russia's deputy foreign ministry spokesman Alexei Fadeyev said Thursday that Moscow considered what he called the “political persecution of journalists on trumped-up charges” unacceptable and condemned it.

France ordered Fedorova, 45, to leave the country after Interior Minister Laurent Nunez accused her of relaying Russian propaganda in an attempt to attack what he called the fundamental interests of the nation. France also froze her assets for six months.

Fedorova has rejected the allegations as “political pressure” and censorship. Her lawyer, Emmanuel Piwnica, told AFP she was abroad when the expulsion order was issued and would not return to France unless it was suspended or overturned.

Fedorova formerly headed RT France, the French arm of Russian broadcaster RT, which was banned in France after Russia launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022. She now appears as a commentator for French media outlets belonging to conservative billionaire Vincent Bollore, including CNews and Europe 1.

Nunez told RTL the order was “thoroughly justified” and said Fedorova had repeatedly echoed Kremlin positions on Ukraine, France's involvement and Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Her employers said they were astonished by the expulsion order and called it a serious infringement of freedom of expression.