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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) called on Riga to preserve the broadcasting of Russian-language media, Sputnik reports. The head of the EBU, Noel Curran, addressed the head of the Latvian government, Evika Silina, on the issue.
Earlier, the Latvian authorities banned radio stations and television channels from broadcasting in Russian. According to the parliamentary decision, all Russian-language public media will be banned by early 2026. This is stated in the new concept of national security.
In Europe, this decision is causing concern - the EBU believes that the ban will prevent the Russian-speaking audience from accessing ''reliable'' information. And this, in turn, will cause more widespread disinformation. The EBU fears that this could jeopardize the country's information security.
According to international law, if a country has public media, their use of minority languages is an integral part of human rights, EBU recalled.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the ban on Russian-language media broadcasting in Latvia a gross discrimination on the basis of nationality and language. Official representative of the department Maria Zakharova believes that this step once again proves that official Riga has turned aggressive chauvinistic nationalism into state policy.
The Latvian authorities continue to pursue a course against the Russian language, and their next step on this path proves the lack of success in attempts to build a truly democratic and inclusive society, Maria Zakharova is sure.
Russkiy Mir
