The Latvian State Security Service considers that the use of the Latvian public television studio LTV to record an interview with former Foreign Minister Janis Jurkans to RT broadcaster poses risks to the security of the country's information space, local media reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2019) The Latvian State Security Service considers that the use of the Latvian public television studio LTV to record an interview with former Foreign Minister Janis Jurkans to RT broadcaster poses risks to the security of the country's information space, local media reported.According to Skaties.lv news portal, the interview with Jurkans was released on March 15. Talking to reporters, the ex-minister, in particular, said that constant demonization is the evidence of absence of political culture in Latvia.
The security service was informed about this case and is now engaged in clarification of circumstances, the media outlet said. The security service believes that similar practice, when a public media, financed from the state budget, supports the media, which spreads "Russian propaganda," is unacceptable and is associated with risks to the security of the Latvian information space, according to the publication.
Sputnik Latvia reported that despite the silence of the LTV leadership, the broadcaster's employee Harijs Lavkinaitis is responsible for renting the studio for RT needs. He did not reportedly deny his involvement and said that the leadership of LTV had received all the explanations.
According to Sputnik Latvia, the LTV leadership has denied the allegations and said that they new nothing about the planned interview or about those who were going to rent the studio.
The Baltic States repeatedly undertake attempts to restrict the presence of Russian media. In September 2017, Estonia refused to let Rossiya Segodnya reporters cover the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Tallinn. Three reporters were denied accreditation in what became the first time the agency faced such restrictions in getting access to EU ministerial meetings.
Russian cable and satellite channel RTR Planeta, which was suspended from broadcasting in Lithuania due to alleged violations of broadcasting rules and "inciting ethnic hatred" in early 2017, again ran into trouble in August after it aired Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky's remarks suggesting that Russia should demand all Baltic states to clear NATO troops within a 300-kilometer zone near the Russian border and threaten to undertake certain "measures" if they failed to do so. The broadcaster was banned for half a year.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly condemned such actions by Baltic States' authorities, which it said violate the basic democratic values of media freedom.
