Simonyan: "We plan to continue to laugh"

Latvia and Lithuania banned RT broadcasting on their territory, Estonia can do the same

On Wednesday, the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission banned the broadcast of the Russian RT channel and several related channels in the country. Two weeks ago, on June 30, the National Council for the Electronic Media of Latvia made a similar decision. Both departments emphasize: this decision does not concern the content of the channel, but is the result of sanctions against Dmitry Kiselev.

All channels of the holding that are broadcast in Lithuania were prohibited: the RT channel itself, the version of RT HD, RT Spanish, broadcasting in Spanish, RT Documentary and RT Documentary HD. The decision of the commission entered into force on July 9. Until now, these channels have been available in cable packages of television operators.

“The programs stop not because of the violations, but because the person who falls under the sanctions is included in the list of persons related to this television programs.

This is Mr. Kiselev - he should not benefit, so the relay of programs stops.

This was done in Latvia, and now in Lithuania, ”said Martas Martishes, the head of the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission.

Dmitry Kiselev, General Director of the Russian MIA Today MIA today, which includes RT, got into the European sanctions list in 2014 for the “active support” of Russia's policy towards Ukraine. In 2015, Kiselev tried to challenge the decision of the EU Council on introducing his surname to the sanctions list, but in 2017 the European Court of General Jurisdiction made its decision without satisfying Kiselev’s lawsuit.

The head of the Union of Journalists of Lithuania Daineus Rajavicius agrees with the decision of the Commission on Radio and Television.

“EU sanctions are in effect on certain people who, among other things, owned or manage companies in the media sphere, so sanctions can apply to these companies,” Radzyaviyus said in a commentary to Novaya Gazeta. - The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry provided the commission that there are people to whom sanctions should be applied.

So this solution is not related to RT content: good or bad, correct or wrong. ”

According to Rajaviciyus, that this decision is connected exclusively with sanctions is evidenced by the fact that the information came from the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Ministry is not engaged in the analysis of the content of specific programs of specific channels. At the same time, he believes, as a result, the final consumer still suffers. “To be honest, I am for any political decisions - internal and international - to prevent the dissemination of information. That would be perfect, ”says the head of the Lithuanian Union of Journalists. “It would be good if there is no need to take sanctions due to which access to information suffers, even when it comes to RT.”

However, according to the journalist, it is necessary not to blame the Lithuanian commission in this, but those who initially created the situation followed by the sanctions.

RT editor Margarita Simonyan does not agree with the grounds for the ban on channel broadcasting in Lithuania. “They banned RT because Dmitry Kiselev is not related to RT under sanctions. This is approximately how to prohibit the “New Gazeta” because Khodorkovsky on the wanted list, ”she said in a commentary to Novaya Gazeta.

- We plan to continue to laugh at their idiocy. Since, in the case of the Baltic states, not one of our effects would be more effective than this - we tried. And laughter, they say, prolongs life-at least some benefit. ”

This is not the first time when the Baltic countries are prohibited or suspend the broadcast of channels on the basis of sanctions against their owners or managers.

So, in November, the National Council for Electronic Media of Latvia decided to block 9 Russian channels in the country - mainly entertainment and film channels “Cinema House”, “Kino Premium”, “Beaver”, “Telecafa” and several more. All of them belong to the "National Media Group" Yuri Kovalchuk, who is also included in the sanctions lists of the EU and the USA. Then the council noted that Kovalchuk is the beneficiary from the broadcast of these channels, which contradicts the essence of the sanctions.

The decision of the Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues supported the Foreign Ministry of Estonia. The head of the Estonian Foreign Ministry Urmas Reinsalu said that the transaction restriction is the right step in implementing financial sanctions, and Estonia may follow the example of the Baltic colleagues. At first, however, this issue should be analyzed in the Bureau for the fight against money laundering - the department that is responsible for the implementation of financial sanctions.