MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. The French authorities seek to hide the truth about the failures in the organization of the Olympics by withdrawing accreditation from TASS reporters, says Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club.
"This is an attempt to camouflage the obvious critical issues that took place during the organization of the Olympics and caused a rather strong negativity in the West itself. This way, they try to shift the focus of the public attention to the Russian reporters, to spin it like they are to blame for this angle. The French authorities attempt will not be successful, but this is the logic here," the expert said.
According to Bystritsky, the withdrawal of the accreditation from TASS reporters has become "an obvious political stunt."
"The French authorities’ actions are an element of polarization of the Olympics, which is only regrettable. They want to underscore their intransigence and intolerance to other opinions, to criticism and to protect their own understanding of democracy and their skewed system of values," he explained.
He explained that the line of failures that started at the opening of the Paris Olympics, made President Emmanuel Macron a target for criticism.
"He is very sensitive about it from the political standpoint. Moreover, these failures have affected the internal political struggle. His main opponents criticize the current events very actively. And truth hurts Macron," the analyst said.
Previously, the Paris Olympics organizational committee stripped four TASS reporters of previously provided accreditation, pointing to a decision of French authorities. The provided document includes no details, and only includes a reference to France’s Internal Security Code.