Moldova shut down six TV channels associated with the political opposition a few days ago, according to the Russian-language service of Deutsche Welle. The government charged them with broadcasting “incorrect information” about Putin's War, which it opposes. They denied the charges.
Pro-Western President Maia Sandu tied two channels to the opposition party Shore, headed by Ilan Shor, sanctioned by the United States and Great Britain. He is the husband of the Russian pop singer Jasmin and fled Moldova after Sandu's election in 2019. He lives in Israel. The two channels have broadcast content from Russia, which denounced the shutdowns.
Moldova has been in a state of emergency since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, its neighbor, in February. It is a former Soviet state with a population of just 2.6 million and a tiny military. It worries that Russia will forge a path across Ukraine early next year to Transdniestria, which broke away from Moldova three decades ago and stations Russian troops. In October, the Russian energy giant Gazprom threatened to cut off Moldova's natural gas if the utility there did not pay its debt.
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Yulia Semenova.
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в Молдове закрыли оппозиционные телеканалы – DW – 19.12.2022
Tough situation. Do the ends justify the means?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. The dilemma is a classic one between free expression and national stability. Chisinau worries that the Russians are infiltrating the country with propaganda to install a pro-Kremlin government. And it's a reasonable worry. But shutting down six TV stations in such a small country strikes me as a bit extreme. Surely one would do better to counter the propaganda with the truth.
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