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Foreign Ministry accredited press can cover election without difficulty — election chief

On November 5, Russia's State Duma adopted a law that recognizes a media outlet as a foreign agent if it is financed from abroad

MOSCOW, November 21./TASS/. Foreign mass media accredited in the Russian Foreign Ministry should not have problems with coverage of the Russian election, Chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova said on Tuesday.

"As far as we can see now, I may already say that this does not affect the accreditation problem. There is an accreditation mechanism for foreign media in the Foreign Ministry and there is an accreditation mechanism in the Central Election Commission. If a media outlet is recognized as international, if it is accredited by the Foreign Ministry, there are no problems here," she told reporters ahead of the Russian conference on presidential election monitoring.

On November 5, the State Duma unilaterally adopted a law that recognizes a media outlet as a foreign agent if it is financed from abroad. After receiving the status of a foreign agent, media outlets will have restrictions and liabilities that are currently stipulated for non-profit organizations - foreign agents. They will also face responsibility for law violations similar to that faced by such non-profit organizations. The specified chamber’s decision came as a response to the demands placed by the US Department of Justice to RT America - the American branch of the Russian TV company - to be registered as a foreign agent in the United States. The Federation Council will study the law on November 22.