The editor-in-chief of one of the largest Italian newspapers La Repubblica, Maurizio Molinari, sent a reply to the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova. The latter sharply reprimanded the editor-in-chief after the publication in the publication of his article, in which Russia, among other things, is accused of the migration crisis in Europe.
An article titled “Tanks and Migrants: Putin’s Clutches Squeeze Europe” stated that Moscow was allegedly moving its troops to the borders of Ukraine.
The Russian authorities were also blamed for the aggravation of the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border. At the same time, the author linked these events with the problems surrounding the launch of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.
After the article was published, Zakharova called it “stinking slander.” She recalled that Russia has never let Italy down on gas supplies.
“How does the conscience of an Italian journalist allow you to speak in such a boorish tone about Russian suppliers of hydrocarbons?” – the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was indignant.
She also recommended that the editor-in-chief of the publication, after the publication of this article, heat his house not with gas, but with his own newspapers “in protest.”
In turn, Molinari told RIA Novosti that he had already sent a response to Zakharova, but did not disclose the contents of the message.
“If Zakharova deems it necessary, she will distribute it,” the editor-in-chief said in response to a request to provide the text of the answer.
