On August 3, the Administrative Court of Paris issued a final ruling in the case of Russian TV presenter Ksenia Fedorova, the former editor-in-chief of RT France. The court rejected the journalist's appeal against the previously issued order by the authorities to leave French territory and also confirmed the legality of the freezing of her assets.
The judges ruled that Fedorova failed to provide sufficient evidence that her deportation would entail "serious personal consequences." This decision marked the logical conclusion of a process initiated last week when the authorities officially ordered her to leave the country.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez justified the expulsion decision with accusations of spreading Russian propaganda. The official position of the ministry states that Fedorova's actions are aimed at "undermining the fundamental interests of the state." According to the documents, her presence on French soil is viewed as a "particularly serious and current threat to public order."
Ksenia Fedorova herself did not admit guilt and stated her intention to appeal the decision of the French authorities to higher instances. In her comments, she called the situation a "completely new form of political pressure," the goal of which, in her opinion, is solely to censor opinions that do not align with the official line.
The conflict surrounding the journalist has a long backstory. In January 2023, French authorities blocked the bank account of the Russian TV channel RT, forcing Fedorova to announce the cessation of the editorial office's work. Despite the closure of the channel, she remained in France and continued her career. Currently, she appears as a commentator in right-wing media outlets belonging to the media group of French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, specifically on the CNews channel.
In the opinion of many observers, even after changing platforms, Fedorova continues to "reproduce the theses of Russian state media." The decision to expel her has provoked an ambiguous reaction: the journalist's employers and a number of conservative politicians expressed bewilderment, calling the authorities' actions a "particularly serious violation of freedom of speech."
