German journalists association urges Latvia to reinstate license to TV Rain

BERLIN - The German journalists association (Deutscher Journalisten-Verband) and trade union Ver.di on Tuesday called on Latvian authorities to reinstate the broadcasting license to Russian independent media outlet TV Rain (Dozhd). 

"Press freedom is universal. It also applies to Latvia however big its fear of neighboring Russia might be," the association's chairman Frank Uberall said. 

Ver.di leader Frank Werneke called the Latvian National Electronic Mass Media Council's (NEPLP) decision to revoke the Russian TV channel's license an "arbitrariness", clearly contradicting the European Union's (EU) values. 

"If TV Rain's broadcasts from Latvia will be terminated, the Russians will be denied one of the few remaining independent sources of information," Werneke said. 

He also claimed that the Latvian media watchdog's decision serves the Kremlin's interests and that no European can agree with it. 

As reported, NEPLP has revoked the Latvian broadcasting license to TV Rain following a number of violations. TV Rain stopped broadcasting in Latvian territory as of last Thursday.