Photo credit: MFA Russia
The authorities of Latvia, by banning access to the website Baltnews.lv, owned by the MIA Russia Today, demonstrate their desire to clear the media space from independent media that they cannot control. This is stated in the comments of the Foreign Ministry.
The official Riga explained its actions by the fact that the activities of the media allegedly threaten the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, which means that it falls under the decision on European sanctions.
The Foreign Ministry recalled that Brussels, which is nodded in the Baltic republic, prefers to turn a blind eye to violations of freedom of speech that systematically occur from Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, as well as from Paris, Berlin and London. Instead, European officials, taking on the role of mentors, continually hand out instructions to other countries, as they must follow the high standards of the European Union in terms of freedom of speech.
Moscow hoped that the ban would receive a critical response from international structures and human rights organizations, including the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir. The Russian Mission to the OSCE called blocking the site a politically motivated censorship. The diplomatic mission considers Riga’s decision a violation of the basic principles of democracy. One of the leaders of the Russian Union of Latvia party, Miroslav Mitrofanov, notes that blocking the Baltnews.lv website is "manifestation of the hatred of the ruling elite in relation to Russian population of Latvia."
State Duma believes that the ban on Baltnews.lv is another proof that statements about freedom of speech remain just words for the West. In addition, it is also evidence of the effective work of the Russian media, which speak about events that are interesting to people in an accessible language.
As we reported earlier, according to Dezir, last month the Russian authorities addressed him with a message about the appeals of the deputies of the Lithuanian Seimas to block access to the Sputnik Lithuania website. Desir replied that he was closely following the situation in this case.
Russkiy Mir
