The EU intends to launch a Russian-language TV channel

International and national media have intensively covered over the past days a statement of the Latvian Minister of External Affairs Edgars Rinkevics about the creation of a Russian-language television that would be combating Russian propaganda in Europe.

According to the Latvian official, Russian television has become very aggressive over the last years, and it can no longer be considered normal journalism, but rather information warfare and propaganda. The proposal is being discussed under the aspect of development of “alternative sources of information – not alternative propaganda sources, but an alternative normal European TV channel, with entertainment, with news, but with very factually accurate news,” BuzzFeed News informs.

Rinkevics added that about 13-15 EU country leaders had informally expressed their support for this idea, from smaller countries on the EU’s eastern border to Scandinavian countries, Poland and the UK.

The need in alternative information sources in the Russian language had been a discussion topic in Washington and in European capitals for about a decade, but it became especially relevant when president Putin intensified control over the Russian mass media.

Investment into Russian media is an important initiative, especially for Latvia and Estonia, former Soviet countries with the largest numbers of Russian speakers in the EU. In Riga, a group of progressive Russian journalists created an independent news website, Meduza.io.

Europeans are not alone in the attempt to create a new media outlet in the Russian language. The US government, which finances the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, launched the "Current Time" newscast, 30-minute long, which comes under the slogan “facts, not lies” and is broadcast in Lithuania and Georgia and on other media channels (including YouTube).

Source of photo: Kommersant