OREANDA-NEWS  Russia has revoked the accreditation of Maria Knips-Witting, a journalist at the Moscow bureau of Austrian Radio and Television (ORF), in response to the withdrawal by the Austrian authorities of permanent accreditation from TASS correspondent Ivan Popov, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

On June 10, the journalist was ordered to hand over her accreditation certificates and leave Russia in the near future.

“If the official Vienna continues the practice of discrimination against Russian journalists, the corresponding reaction will follow immediately against Austrian journalists,” the message says.

Popov was stripped of his permanent accreditation in Austria on April 30, and was given two weeks to leave the country.

“The Austrian authorities have not provided any explanations for such steps,” Smolenskaya Square noted.

Nevertheless, the Austrian authorities did not change their mind, and on June 7, Popov left this country.

“In accordance with the principles of media freedom and on the basis of reciprocity, we will be ready to consider the possibility of accrediting new ORF employees in Russia after the Austrian government creates conditions for the work of representatives of Russian media and the full resumption of the activities of the TASS office in Vienna,” the Foreign Ministry said.