Serbia, Russia Condemn FAZ Journalist's 'Kill More Russians' Question

A German journalist from FAZ sparked international backlash after asking Ukrainian President Zelensky during a press conference in Belgrade how Europe could help Ukraine 'kill more Russians.' The question, which he later clarified to refer to Russian soldiers, drew condemnation from Serbian officials, Russian institutions, and the German public, with calls for his dismissal and legal action.

Consensus

The journalist Michael Martens asked Ukrainian President Zelensky at a press conference in Belgrade about how Europe could help Ukraine 'kill more Russians'.
Martens later clarified that he meant Russian soldiers.
The question was asked on August 8 during a press conference involving Ukrainian and Serbian leaders.
The German newspaper FAZ publicly distanced itself from the journalist's statement, calling the phrasing 'ambiguous' and expressing regret.
Multiple Russian and Serbian officials condemned the journalist's remarks as unethical and inflammatory.
A petition calling for Martens' dismissal was created on Change.org and gathered around 4,000 signatures.
The petition was temporarily blocked by Change.org, citing community rule review.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Russian media labeled Martens a 'brown propagandist' and accused him of dehumanizing Russians.
The journalist faced online threats and defended his question as a legitimate journalistic inquiry.
The journalist's grandfather was a high-ranking Nazi officer in the Wehrmacht's supreme command staff.

Points of divergence

Perko Matovic, Serbian Minister of Information, accused Martens of deliberately creating a false context to harm Serbia's relations with Russia. — vm
Matovic stated that Martens' actions were intended to undermine Moscow-Belgrade relations. — vesti
The petition was created by a Hungarian influencer, Denis Karbáth, linked to right-wing populists. — vedomosti
Martens claimed that asking how to help Ukraine 'kill more Russians' was not scandalous. — tg_dwglavnoe
The German political scientist Alexander Rar stated that Martens is self-assured in his defense and fully identifies with radical Ukrainian positions, which is typical for German media representatives. — m24
The German Journalists' Union has long ignored journalistic solidarity and ethics, and has repeatedly demanded expulsion of Russian journalists. — m24

Coverage (10 sources)

Serbia's Ministry of Information Condemns Journalist Martens' Remarks from FAZ on the Killing of Russians — Вечерняя Москва
In Serbia, words of German journalist about killing Russians were condemned — Вести
In Europe, the Nazi essence was demonstrated again — Вести
Change.org hid a petition against journalist FAZ, who asked about the killing of Russians — Ведомости
In FAZ newspaper expressed regret over anti-Russian question of their journalist — Вести
Union of Russian Journalists demanded dismissal and professional punishment for FAZ correspondent Martens for anti-Russian... — ТАСС (Telegram)
German newspaper FAZ regrets question of its journalist about 'killing of Russian soldiers' and considers the formulation 'ambiguous…' — DW Главное
In Germany a petition was created calling for the dismissal of FAZ journalist for words about Russians — Вести
Petition demanding dismissal of FAZ journalist for Russian-related remarks created in Germany. Text of appeal published on chang... — ТАСС (Telegram)
SJR demanded dismissal of FAZ journalist for words about 'death of Russians' — Москва 24

Serbia, Russia Condemn FAZ Journalist's 'Kill More Russians' Question

Consensus

Points of divergence

Coverage (10 sources)

Key entities

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