The International Press Association (API-IPA) urged on Monday Belgian authorities not to expel journalist Margarita Zuaui and her 18-year-old son following a dispute about her EU press accreditation.
“We urge the Belgian authorities to approach this case with restraint and fairness,” said Dafydd ab lago, president of API-IPA. The press association represents accredited correspondents and media professionals reporting from Brussels and across the EU.
Zuaui has lived and worked in Belgium since 2020. She and her son are fully integrated into Belgian society, speak local languages and participate actively in school and community life. She previously held accreditation as a correspondent for Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti and retains valid Belgian press accreditation as an independent journalist.
According to API-IPA, Zuaui is not facing expulsion due to sanctions or accusations of wrongdoing. Instead, she risks losing her residency status after her family reunification pathway — linked to her husband’s previous status — was terminated. Their son recently graduated from secondary school in Uccle and plans to begin his first year at ULB in September.
The problems started when RIA Novosti last year was added to EU’s list of sanctioned media outlets because of broadcasting Russian propaganda and manipulating facts about its war of aggression against Ukraine.
According to the first sanction decision in 2022, media outlets and their staff are not prevented from carrying out other activities in the Union than broadcasting, such as research and interviews. The Commission explained in 2024 that the sanctions do not target freedom of opinion and that they include specific safeguards for freedom of expression and journalistic activities.
API-IPA warns that shifting interpretations of EU restrictive measures could undermine journalists’ rights and set a dangerous precedent. Zuaui’s EU press accreditation has been withdrawn by citing the EU restriction on providing economic resources to sanctioned entities.
Asked for a comment, a Commission spokesperson referred to the 2014 Council regulation (269/2014) which placed a number of persons under an asset freeze and a prohibition to make funds and economic resources available to them, directly or indirectly.
The sanctions were targeting persons that were responsible for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine following Russia’s actions in Donbas and Crimea.
“Asset freeze is not a ban on journalistic work, but a prohibition on making available economic resources to the listed entity which employs the journalists. Such resources include the access to the buildings and virtual tools of the institutions,” the Commission told The Brussels Times. The decision on the renewal of the annual EU accreditation of correspondents is taken by an Accreditation Committee.
“For three years, journalist accreditation — both to the EU institutions and for the Belgian press card — has been granted without being considered equivalent to providing funds or resources to sanctioned outlets,” Dafydd ab lago commented. “It now seems officials have abruptly shifted their interpretation, treating accreditation as economic support. This logic is difficult to understand and has serious implications for press freedom.”
“Belgian and EU authorities must remain consistent with the fundamental rights and freedoms recognized in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,” he added. “Sanctions must not prevent our members from carrying out their work as journalists. That is especially true as neither Margarita nor her husband are themselves subject to EU sanctions.”
“Our members are working journalists — not sanctioned individuals. We urge Belgian authorities to uphold European values of press freedom, legal certainty and proportionality.”
Update: Margarita Zuaui’s Belgian residence permit has not been renewed. A source in the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that it was not able to share any information in individual cases and declined to clarify if there was any link between the non-renewal of her EU press accreditation and the decision by the Belgian authorities.
