Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Russia about alleged state interference in the affairs of the RBC newspaper and news service; and whether they will make public any responses received.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government has not made any specific representations to the Russian Federation regarding the dismissal of three editors of Russian newspaper RBK on 13 May. However the Minister for Europe, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), did raise our broader concerns about the suppression of civil society in Russia with his counterpart Deputy Minister Titov in December 2015. As set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report, the UK is deeply concerned about the reducing space for dissenting views and the increasing pressure on the media community in Russia.