Non-renewal of Euronews licence in Belarus

Question for written answer  E-002051/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D)

On 12 April 2021, the Belarussian Ministry of Information announced in a statement that Euronews’ licence to broadcast in the country would not be renewed. According to the Ministry, this decision was justified by non-compliance with advertising rules, which prohibit the broadcasting of adverts in English.

Euronews was immediately pulled off the air. The broadcaster had not been informed of this decision, nor of the reasons behind it. According to Euronews, the advertising issue had never been raised with them before.

This decision comes in a context where freedom of the press is being severely curtailed in Belarus. Since 1998, Euronews has been an important independent voice in the Belarussian media landscape, distributed in an overwhelming majority of households in the country.

Euronews has said that it will re-apply for a licence and that it has the capacity to remove all advertising from its programming to comply with regulations so that Belarussians can continue to have access to the channel.

Euronews benefits from substantial EU funding, in particular through the Multimedia Actions budget line. What steps will the Commission take to ensure cooperation between the Belarussian authorities and Euronews in order to get the channel back on the air as soon as possible?