Russia accuses France of paranoia over refusal to accredit some Russian journalists for Olympics

MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday (Jul 24) that France's refusal to accredit some Russian journalists to cover the Paris Olympics on security grounds was a sign of paranoia.

France's caretaker interior minister said on Sunday that French security services had rejected more than 4,000 applications for Olympics accreditations, including over espionage and cyberattack concerns.

Gerald Darmanin, who said close to one hundred applications had been rejected over espionage fears, said some of those turned down were from Russia and Belarus, a staunch ally of Moscow's.

"This is just paranoia, real paranoia," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.