Станция в Браславе. Фото: yandex.com
Latvia’s National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has banned the distribution of the “Radio Belarus” program in the country. The restriction applies to all means of distribution, including the internet.
The relevant decision was adopted on Sept. 17 and published on Sept. 23 in the official publication Latvijas Vēstnesis.
The regulator established that “Radio Belarus” broadcasts are available in Latvia’s eastern border regions, including Daugavpils, Krāslava Municipality and Augšdaugava Municipality. The station broadcasts from a transmitter in Braslau on the frequency of 107.7 MHz.
NEPLP noted that “Radio Belarus” is one of the programs of the Belteleradio Company, which has been under European Union sanctions since June 2022. Therefore, the radio station is not considered an entity separate from the sanctioned state broadcaster.
According to the Latvian regulator, the station’s broadcasts contained one-sided and biased information about Russia’s war against Ukraine, justified Russian military aggression and published material supporting the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
NEPLP also found self-promotional material by the radio station in Latvian that discredited Latvian state institutions and their decisions.
The regulator said the programs criticized the policies of Lithuania, other Baltic states and the EU toward Belarus, while sanctions were linked to the rising cost of living in European countries. Listeners, including residents of Latvia, were encouraged to visit Belarus, which was presented as a safe and friendly country. This contradicts a warning from Latvia’s Foreign Ministry, which strongly recommends that citizens not travel to Belarus and that Latvians currently there leave the country.
In addition, the broadcasts questioned the independence of Latvian media, decisions by Latvian authorities and EU institutions, while events of World War II were presented selectively and one-sidedly.
“The audio program ‘Radio Belarus’ is used to disseminate Russian and Belarusian propaganda directed against Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other European Union member states”, the decision says.
The council concluded that the content distributed by the radio station poses a threat to Latvia’s national security and state independence. NEPLP stressed that such content is unacceptable in the country’s information space, both in electronic media programs and services and on the internet.
The ban will remain in effect until the EU sanctions against the person or organization directly or indirectly linked to “Radio Belarus” are lifted. In this case, the entity in question is the Belteleradio Company.