Ban On Rebroadcasting Of Rossiya-RTR In Latvia Political Action - Moscow

The ban on the rebroadcasting of the Russia-RTR channel in Latvia is a political action that grossly violates Riga's international obligations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2021) The ban on the rebroadcasting of the Russia-RTR channel in Latvia is a political action that grossly violates Riga's international obligations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

On Monday, Latvia's media watchdog banned the rebroadcasting of Russia-RTR in the republic for a year. Earlier, Latvian cable operator Tet announced that it would stop rebroadcasting the largest Russian tv channels PBK (rebroadcaster of Channel One in the Baltic countries), NTV Mir, Ren TV Baltiya, Kinokomediya and Kinomix. The rebroadcast will stop on February 1. Instead of the listed channels, viewers will be offered others, the company announced that it was also continuing to search for channels that can be added to the package.

"We regard the decision of the Latvian authorities to ban the broadcasting of the Russia-RTR TV channel for a year as a political action that grossly violates Riga's international obligations to ensure freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions," Zakharova said in a commentary.

She stressed that the channels of Russia's VGTRK had been subjected to restrictive measures in Latvia for several years under various far-fetched pretexts.

"The current story is no exception ... We see in the banning of Russian channels Riga's stubborn desire to eradicate the Russian and Russian-language media, the Russian language, as well as any dissent from the national media at all costs. Latvia once again neglects the rights of the Russian-speaking population of the country, ignoring its obligations in the field of ensuring human rights and thus violating the fundamental principles of a democratic and civil society," Zakharova said.

"We call on relevant international organizations and the human rights community to properly respond to the repressive policy of Latvia in the field of media regulation, as well as double standards in ensuring the rights of foreign media and their own citizens," the spokeswoman said.

The authorities of the Baltic countries have repeatedly obstructed the work of the Russian media. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced clear signs of a coordinated line of these states. Cases of harassment of the media in the Baltic states "clearly demonstrate what demagogic statements about the adherence of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn to the principles of democracy and freedom of speech are worth in practice," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.