German Journalists Call on Vladimir Putin to Open up Chechnya to Them

'Journalists are not a warring faction, and the military commanders of Russia and Germany need to be reminded of this again,' said Alexei Venedictov, the editor in chief of radio station Echo of Moscow. Venedictov was speaking at a discussion on the role of the media in the new Russian-German relations, which was being held as part of the Petersburg Dialogue forum.

According to Rosbalt's correspondent, Venedictov said that 'Iraq, where the international community of journalists has lost 12 colleagues in the fighting, demands that we remind Putin and Schroeder of this again,' because Russian and German military personnel are taking part in peacekeeping missions in conflict zones around the world.

German journalists have also appealed to the Russian President with the call: 'Open up Chechnya to us.'