Baltic States – CIS, Internet, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Telecomunications

Such was Lacplesis' opinion during an interview with the Latvian Television show "Rita panorama" today.

"The fact that Russian mass media have a very great influence in Latgale, as well as in Daugavpils, is no secret to anyone. Legal, licensed media are not a problem, as they more or less follow ethical and legal standards. The real issue concerns the uncontrolled media. You can see all sorts of wonders there, and immature minds could actually get a feeling that they live in another country and in different circumstances," Daugavpils mayor admitted.

He said that there are different people with different attitudes in the city, but "without any special interference of third countries, it will be impossible to destabilize the situation here as people are largely loyal to their country."

Lacplesis believes that the government should act in order to regulate the media by paying more attention to hate speech and anti-governmental activities on the Internet. The Security Police, too, should increase their capacity in this regard, Daugavpils mayor believes.