Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, described the decision as “undisguised censorship” and vowed an “asymmetrical response.”

The channels affected include Channel One, Rossiya 1, RT, Sputnik, NTV, and REN TV, with the ban taking effect no later than July 10. The country’s Agency for Electronic Media instructed the relevant agencies and telecommunications companies to block broadcasts or face a fine of between €1,000 and €40,000.

Russia’s foreign ministry said the move was merely “an attempt to retroactively legally formalize a situation that took shape in early 2022, when the Montenegrin authorities, without warning, blocked all Russian broadcasters in the country.”

“We regard this latest antic by the Montenegrin government as a hostile act of undisguised censorship designed, on the one hand, to give the appearance of legality to gross violations of media freedoms and, on the other hand, to curry favor with EU’s Brussels hoping to achieve cherished progress on the European trail,” said a statement by Zakharova posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website. “They are willing to continue their policy of undermining the democratic foundations of their own society and state, and to deprive their own citizens of the right of access to information with the sole purpose of accommodating the Russophobic transatlantic agenda. These unfriendly actions will not be left without an asymmetrical response.”

Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Montenegro joined other countries in imposing sanctions on Russia and expelled a number of its diplomats. In 2010, Montenegro was granted EU candidate status, and accession negotiations started in 2012.