French government warns TV channel about using expelled Russian pundit

PARIS - France’s interior minister on Sept 10 warned of criminal proceedings if a French television channel allows back on air a Russian commentator who was expelled over claims that she is a Kremlin agent.

Xenia Fedorova, 45, was formally expelled from France in August after losing an appeal against a court ruling which ordered her to leave for spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda.

But French conservative television channel CNews has indicated she will appear on air again soon via video link.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote to France’s ARCOM media regulator, explaining Fedorova had been accused of “manipulating information and public debate” and “infringing upon the fundamental interests of the nation”, leading to her expulsion and the freezing of her assets.

Any return to air “directly contravenes the expulsion and asset-freezing measures imposed and is liable to give rise to several criminal charges”, he said in the letter revealed by Le Monde daily and seen by AFP.

Fedorova is the former head of the French arm of RT, which was banned in France after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

She then became a commentator for outlets within conservative French billionaire Vincent Bollore’s group of broadcasting outlets, including Cnews.

Fedorova, who has decried the accusations as “censorship”, has said she was outside France on holiday when the deportation order went into effect so was never physically deported. AFP