29 October 2011, 13:00
German authorities treat performance of MDR dancers for Kadyrov as unacceptable
The Federal Government of Germany treated performance of actors of the MDR TV Channel at birthday party of the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, which took place on October 5 in the city of Grozny, as unacceptable.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the German TV Channel MDR decided to transfer to the organization "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) a fee of the ballet dancers received for the concert in Grozny. The TV Channel management fears that participation in the concert will hurt the reputation of the MDR TV Channel.
"The Government knew nothing about a trip of the ballet dancers to Grozny and treats that performance as unacceptable," stated Bernd Neumann, Representative of the Federal Government for Culture, responding to the parliamentary request of Tom Koenigs, the MP of the Green Party.
According to the Representative of the Federal Government for Culture, officials from Berlin expect that the TV Channel management will draw conclusions, the "Deutsche Welle" reports with reference to the newspaper "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung".
Earlier this week, Bodo Bergmann, the troupe director, was reprimanded, the edition "Epd" reports.
On October 17, the TV Channel MDR made a statement in which it expressed its regret that German actors performed in the Chechen Republic. The statement noted that the actors were booked for participation in the festivities on the occasion of the Day of Grozny city, which coincided with the birthday of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, by certain "external agency", which paid the dancers a "regular for the market" fee amounted to a "four-digit sum".
