The authorities of the Gagauz Autonomy have condemned a ban on entry to Moldova for VGTRK media holding journalists.
«Moldova's authorities are very sensitive to the reports broadcast by Russian TV channels because they tell the truth. The Russian journalists who come here give actual coverage of the events in Moldova, Gagauzia and Pridnestrovie. We understand the reasons for that and, of course, we condemn it," said Irina Valakh in an interview with Rossiya 1.
On 28 May VGTRK special reporter Dmitri Kaistro learnt on the arrival at Kishinev airport that the Moldovan authorities had declared him persona non grata. He was refused entry to Moldova until 2019.
The day before, 27 May, Moldova's Coordination Council on Radio and Television had made the decision to suspend the broadcasting of the Rossiya 24 TV channel in Moldova.
According to council members, the Russian channel had breached Moldova's TV and Radio Code, European Convention on Human Rights, election campaign regulations and Moldova's constitution. Particularly, the council did not like the way Rossiya 24 covered the elections of the head of the Gagauz Autonomy.
Earlier Moldova declared VGTRK journalist Alexander Balitskiy and TV hosts Andrei Kondrashov and Dmitri Kiselyov personas non grata.
