The Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the blocking of two Russian-language portals by Moldova

Russia calls on Moldova to lift the previously imposed discriminatory bans on the broadcasting of Russian and Russian-language media in the country, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Moldova previously banned access to the Russian-language news portals Eadaily.com and Bloknot.ru due to “the promotion of information that incites hatred under the state of emergency.” Zakharova also recalled that in February 2022, access to the website of the Sputnik Moldova news agency was also blocked.

“We consider the blocking of the mentioned information resources as another gross violation by the Moldovan authorities under frankly far-fetched pretexts of the principle of ensuring pluralism of opinions and freedom of the media, as well as the right of Russian-speaking residents of Moldova to access information,” Zakharova stressed.

She called on the Moldovan side to refrain from such steps, “having nothing to do with true freedom and democracy”, to lift the previously imposed bans on the broadcasting of Russian and Russian-language media in the country, and also to abandon “doubtful ambitions to appropriate some kind of monopoly on the truth.”

On June 2, 2022, the Moldovan parliament adopted a law on the protection of the information space, which prohibits the rebroadcasting of news and analytical programs and military films from Russia. On June 19 of the same year, a law came into force in the republic banning Russian news programs.

After the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, a state of emergency was introduced in Moldova for two months. For this period, the authorities limited the display of Russian programs, in addition to this, the Sputnik Moldova website and other resources were blocked.