Armenia will present proposals to regulate the broadcasting of Russian TV channels

Armenia will present Russia with new proposals to regulate the broadcasting of Russian TV channels in the republic. This will happen during a new consultation, which will be held in Moscow in the near future, said Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan. According to him, the latest consultations, past in December 2023, did not lead to anything, which is why Armenia decided to raise this issue again.

“The decisions are based both on the entire logic of the agreement and on the state interests of Armenia – to provide television content with appropriate content that does not involve interference in the internal affairs of Armenia, insulting the symbols of Armenia, the state,” said Mr. Hayrapetyan (quoted from News.am).

The minister did not name the exact date for the new consultations. He also dodged a question from journalists about whether it was possible to exclude Russian TV channels from the country’s multiplex. The minister only stated that the basis of any decision of his department is “the issue of the dignity of the Armenian people and Armenia.”

In the fall of 2023, the head of the staff of the Prime Minister of Armenia Arayik Harutyunyan accused The Russian media is that they are unleashing a “hybrid war” against the republic. The reason for this statement was the words of NTV journalist Georg Khachaturyan that during the September protests in Armenia, protesters who broke into the government building allegedly came across American paratroopers there.

In October of the same year, the Armenian Foreign Ministry handed over Russian Ambassador Sergei Kopyrkin received a note of protest due to “offensive statements” addressed to Armenian politicians on Channel One.

After this, Robert Khachatryan, who then held the post of Minister of High-Technological Industry of Armenia, statedthat all Russian TV channels broadcasting in the republic commit violations.

Russian-Armenian relations began to cool more and more. Prime Minister of the Republic Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia should move towards the European Union. Read more about this in the material “Armenia wants to join somewhere other than NATO”.

Evgeny Belousov