Baltic States – CIS, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Russia

The council made the decision following several instances of hate speech and incitement to ethnic hatred during the Rossiya RTR programs Evening with Vladimir Solovyov and 60 Minutes.

For instance, the Evening with Vladimir Solovyov host on May 22, 2018 repeatedly made hostile remarks about part of Ukrainians, saying that they had to be hanged and shot dead as they were Nazis, antisemites and outlaws.

During the 60 Minutes program on January 11 last year, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky called for a military operation in Ukraine, calling Ukrainians thugs and bandits, the NEPLP said in a press release.

Prior to making the decision, the NEPLP consulted a number of Latvian and international experts, who agreed that statements made during these programs were inciting ethnic hatred against the Ukrainians.

The NEPLP emphasizes that the objective of the ban on rebroadcasting Rossiya RTR television is to motivate the television to act in accordance with Latvia's laws. The ban will come into force the next day after the decision is printed in the government gazette Latvijas Vestnesis.

Following repeated violations by Rossiya RTR, the NEPLP in 2016 banned rebroadcasting and distribution of Rossiya RTR in Latvia for a period of six months.