The National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) calls on Saeima deputies to make a decision to cease the activities of radio stations broadcasting in Russian.
In a post on X (Twitter), Aboliņš emphasized that Latvia should not finance the activities of radio stations in Russian. In his interpretation, the state essentially finances such stations, as all radio stations broadcasting in Russian use frequencies provided for free, which are state property and the most valuable part of the business.
Aboliņš reports that more than a month has passed since NEPLP presented a proposal to the Saeima's Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee to gradually, over eight years, cease the activities of radio stations in Russian. He criticizes the committee chair for not including this issue in the agenda.
He also claims that the Ministry of Culture, headed by Minister Agnese Lāce (Progressives), did not support this approach earlier and showed no interest in discussions.
Aboliņš urges the other factions of the Saeima, as well as independent deputies, to "approach this issue from a state perspective" and support this proposal by stopping the state funding of broadcasting in Russian.
"Latvia has transitioned to state-funded education solely in the Latvian language, and there are no arguments for valuable state resources to be spent on maintaining an information space in Russian within the commercial radio environment," Aboliņš expresses his vision.
It has been previously reported that as of January 1, the broadcasting license for the Russian-language Latvijas Radio 4 has been revoked.
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