President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko once again criticized the Russian First Channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“A journalist, if he is a journalist or some kind of blogger, they should write honestly, present information objectively, and not raise a scandal. If it’s dishonest, if it doesn’t correspond to reality, you have to answer for it, as was the case with the Russian First Channel,” Lukashenko said.
On May 7, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry revoked the accreditation of the film crew of the Russian Channel One and expelled journalist Alexei Kruchinin from the country. The reason was a story about the fight against the coronavirus epidemic in Belarus, which the journalist criticized. The actions of official Minsk were condemned by the leadership of Channel One, the Union of Journalists of Russia and the country's leading journalists.
The answer to the new accusations was given directly on the air of “First”. Comedian Ivan Urgant joked about the Belarusian president.
“Lukashenko said that Belarusians who have lost their jobs just need to find a new one. And it’s great that Alexander Lukashenko remembers such a concept as a new job,” Urgant hinted at the next presidential elections in Belarus, in which Alexander Lukashenko is going to participate for the sixth time.
According to a study by the Eurasian Media Index CIPI for the first quarter of 2020, in the Belarusian media there are 18% more negative messages about Russia, and in the Russian media about Belarus - 10% more.