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Charlie Hebdo caricatures new manifestation of Russophobia — Serbian ambassador to Russia

"There is no doubt that it is a hostile demarche against Russia and the Russian people," Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic says

MOSCOW, November 13 /TASS/. Caricatures related to the Russian plane crash in Egypt published by the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo is evidence of the Russophobic sentiment, which is on the rise in Europe, Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic said in an interview with the Russian News Service on Friday.

"There is no doubt that it is a hostile demarche against Russia and the Russian people. It is also an anti-humanistic and inhumane act," Terzic said commenting Charlie Hebdo’s new caricatures. Apparently, it should be regarded as a proof that a new wave of Russophobia is rising (in Europe) within the framework of general political and economic relations," Terzic stressed.

The Serbian ambassador quoted the words of Serbian Academician Milorad Ekmecic who said: "Serbophobia is a small stream of Russophobia. It is based on prejudices against Eastern Christianity and Orthodox culture."

"Any normal, free and truly democratic world should condemn it. People should take to the streets to express protest. This is not freedom of press but a terrible abuse of the freedom of speech," Terzic stressed.

This week’s edition of Charlie Hebdo has published a new caricature linked to Russia’s A321 plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula that claimed 224 human lives on October 31. This time, the indecent picture appeared on the cover. Last week, Charlie Hebdo published two caricatures on the crash theme on its last page. Russia lodged a protest with the French Foreign Ministry. The French leaders replied they had nothing to do with the weekly whose journalists were free to express their own opinion.

An A321 plane belonging to Russia’s air company Kogalymavia was en route from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg in Russia (flight KGL 9268) when it crashed over the Sinai Peninsula early on October 31. The plane fell near El Hasna populated locality 100 km to the south of Al-Arish, the administrative center of the North Sinai Governorate (province). All the 224 people onboard, including 217 passengers and the 7-member crew, died. The passengers, most of whom were Russians, also included four Ukrainians and one citizen of Belarus.