News / Foreign Policy

Two BBC journalists de-accredited in Belarus

Saturday, 29 August 2020 5:18 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 29 August 2020 5:19 PM ]

The BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, has fallen foul of the Belarusian authorities

As political unrest continues in Belarus, the authorities have undertaken action against journalists affiliated to countries which have adopted an interventionist role in the crisis.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been affected by the Belarus authorities’ pre-emptive action with reportedly two of its journalists striped of their accreditation.

Both journalists work for the state broadcaster’s Russia service and it is understood that the BBC’s Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, is among them.

— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) August 29, 2020 ">http://

The BBC has issued this statement on the revoking of press accreditations in #Belarus https://t.co/JONL8joEJG
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) August 29, 2020

In a statement the BBC condemned the de-accreditation of its journalists and called for the “revocation” of the Belarusian authorities’ decision.

"We believe it is vital for the people of Belarus to have access to impartial, independent information about events in their country. BBC Russian, which reaches more than five million people a week, has been a major source of news for people in Belarus and Russia during the post-election unrest", the British state broadcaster claimed in the statement.

The Belarusian authorities’ tough attitude to the BBC comes in the wake of the British government’s interventionist approach to the political unrest in Belarus.

UK adopts interventionist role in Belarus political crisis

The UK is showing growing signs of wanting to intervene in the political crisis in Belarus to the disadvantage of presidential election winner Alexander Lukashenko.

The UK has called the results of the recent presidential election in Belarus “fraudulent” and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has even promoted intervention via the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).