Netherlands TV presenter recalled from Russia over safety concerns

Dutch national broadcaster NOS has recalled its Moscow correspondent to the Netherlands because of “concerns for her personal safety” following the arrest for spying of an American reporter there last month.

Iris de Graaf (33) has worked in Russia since 2020, but “interference” in the form of tightening censorship by the country’s security services has made her work increasingly difficult, according to the channel’s director of news Giselle Van Cann.

Western journalists have been targeted by the Russian authorities since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. And concerns mounted last month when Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal was detained on charges of espionage, which he denies.

“We’ve reached the conclusion that the situation for Iris as the most visible Dutch correspondent is too unpredictable for us to be able to assess the risks adequately”, said Ms Van Cann, who added that the decision was “deeply regrettable”.

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Ms De Graaf confirmed her departure in a Twitter post, saying it was “a dark day” for her and for journalism.

“I held out as long as possible under military censorship, doing everything I could do to give Russians a voice from there,” she wrote. “However, it was no longer possible.”

She told a talk show recently that she was “constantly on the alert” while living and working in Russia. “I never even cross the street on a red light because that can be an administrative offence and two of those can lead to deportation from the country.”

NOS says Ms De Graaf will continue to cover Russian affairs from the Netherlands but conceded that its direct coverage will be limited as a result.

Freelance reporter

It says the relationship between the two countries was also “soured” by the conviction of two Russian men in absentia last year for the mass murder of the passengers and crew of Flight MH17 and by the recent issuing of arrest warrants for Mr Putin by the International Criminal Court.

However, a freelance Dutch reporter, Geert Groot Koerkamp, will continue to work in Moscow for as long as practicable.

In a separate development, tensions between Russia and some European Union countries worsened on Monday when an investigation led by Danish public broadcaster, DR, revealed that Russian agents have been stirring up public protests in a number of cities aimed at widening divisions over the war in Ukraine.

DR said it had established that at least 10 protests — including in The Hague, Brussels, Paris and Madrid — had essentially been “fake”, with several of the same Russian men involved in organising each one.

Misleading images of the demonstrations, making them look substantially larger than they were, were then circulated on social media, noted the report.