A Facebook post spreads Kremlin manipulation, claiming the ban was due to the magazine’s pro-Russian stance, citing an interview with the Russian MFA spokesperson, Maria Zakharova from 13.7.2024 as the cause. Although the magazine was inclined toward Russia, that was not its main topic and according to the German MIA, the magazine was banned due to its right-wing extremism, hate speech, anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, and calls for bringing down the democratic order, for which it was under suspicion since 2020
A post on the social network Facebook starts with the following words:
The political magazine Compact, that published an interview with Maria Zakharova, was closed down in Germany.
Essentially, the news published here is true – regarding the ban of the magazine “Compact” in Germany from 16.7.2024. The post specifies that the magazine was pro-Russian, which is also true, however that was not the main topic and certainly not the reason for banning the magazine as the post suggests.
It creates the impression that the ban was due to the magazine’s pro-Russian stance, citing an interview with Russian MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova on 13.7.2024, where, allegedly, she said something the German authorities did not want their citizens to hear.
However, the German Internal Affairs Minister, Nancy Faeser said something completely different – the magazine was banned due to: right-wing extremism, hate speech, anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, and calls for bringing down the democratic Constitutional order.
The thesis that the ban was due to the interview with Zakharova was spread by the Russian news agency TASS, without supporting the claim with any credible evidence. TASS is citing some source, without revealing it, arguing that the magazine was banned soon after publishing the interview with Zakharova, thus there being “an apparent link” between the two. That is where the “arguments” of this so-called “source” end, revealing its extreme flippancy.
In reality, the magazine found itself under the “magnifying glass” of the German authorities long before the interview with Zakharova and the comprehensive Russian invasion of Ukraine that dramatically deteriorated the German-Russian relations – they were bad also due to the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, but not as much as now. According to the evaluation methods applied by the German authorities, the magazine was assessed as suspicious back in March 2020, then in December 2021 the magazine was reassessed as extremist.
TASS also published a statement by a “Compact” journalist claiming that German media “cannot” interview Zakharova and that the piece in the “Compact” was the first after 2022. But it is not quite clear who was the journalist and how credible they were – nor is it clear what “cannot” means – whether Zakharova is refusing to give interviews or the German authorities are banning the interview.
In reality, interviews with Russian politicians are not banned in the West. An example of that is Putin’s interview conducted by Tucker Carlson, but also many others, which directly contradicts the thesis that “Compact” was banned due to the interview with Zakharova.
The post we are fact-checking is quoting statements by different persons, including Elena Kolbasnikova. She is a pro-Russian citizen of Ukraine who lived in Germany until recently. Together with her partner Max Schlund, who was previously called Rostislav Teslyuk and was a Russian officer, they were Putin’s agent of influence in Germany and as such represents an incredible source.
Kolbasnikova was convicted in Germany for violating the sanctions against Russia by raising funds for the Russian Army and she also had organized rallies for support, for which she was also sentenced for justifying war crimes.
Taking all this into consideration, the post is assessed as vague and omitting important facts, therefore missing context.
