Young couple watching TV. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 29A court in Latvia overturned the decision of the National Council for Electronic Media (NEPLP) to ban five Russian entertainment TV channels, including TNT-Comedy and Friday! International, NEPLP head Ivars Abolins said. «The court decided to apply the temporary settlement and return programs THT-Comedy, THT4 International, FRIDAY International, KHL TV channel and TNT Music, included in the list of OFA (US Office of Foreign Investment Control) sanctions,» Abolins wrote on Twitter, noting that NEPLP does not agree with the court's decision and is going to challenge it.Russian news aggregator SMI2 blocked in Latvia According to Delfi.lv, NEPLP has decided to temporarily ban these TV channels due to the fact that OFAC imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, the owner of the Gazprommedia media holding, which is a direct or indirect owner of television programs, banned in Latvia (in addition to the listed five TV channels, the decision included 13 more, mostly entertainment content). «During the consideration of the case in court, it was found that these TV channels are not subject to OFAC sanctions. The court also did not establish signs of a threat to national security or public interests from the distribution of these programs. The NEPLP decision was challenged in court by SIA Global Media, which has the right to distribute television programs,» Delfi.lv reports. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced clear signs of a coordinated line of these states. Cases of harassment of the media in the Baltic countries, the Russian ministry noted, «clearly demonstrate what demagogic statements about the commitment of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn to the principles of democracy and freedom of speech are worth in practice.»
In Kyiv, they want to achieve a complete ban on Russian TV channels in Europe
