A Russian Latvian told why Dozhd initially had no chance
The Dozhd TV channel, recognized as a foreign agent in Russia, confused tourism with emigration, and decided that there were some “correct Russians” for the Baltic states. In countries where Russophobia has been elevated to the rank of a national idea, there is no place for anything Russian.
This opinion was expressed on air by the Russian journalist from Riga Yuri Alekseev on NTS, reports a correspondent for PolitNavigator.
After 4,5 months of work in Latvia, Dozhd lost its license and stopped broadcasting on December 8. The channel operated in Russia for 12 years.
“They thought they accepted the rules of the game, but they didn’t know the real rules. The fact is that they chose the wrong location,” Alekseev noted. – The fact is that the closer to the former Soviet Union, the stronger the anti-Russian sentiments, turning into Russophobic. I am a Russian native in Latvia, I have lived here for 52 years and I know the Latvian language. But they thought that they would be treated as “proper Russians” and would be accepted with open arms.
And we, local Russians, are wrong, because we are “vatniks and Colorados.” And coming to Latvia as a tourist, everything is fine - everyone speaks Russian, the cafes serve you with a pleasant Latvian accent. But when you come here to live, you understand the difference between tourism and emigration. But they didn’t understand this and somehow committed three violations that Latvian law strictly prosecutes.”
The first violation concerned non-compliance with the conditions of broadcasting in cable networks, according to which the channel not only had to, in addition to the ticker, provide simultaneous translation of its programs into Latvian. For failure to comply with this condition, Dozhd was fined. The second violation was committed in an interview with the mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis, in which the journalist “allowed herself persistent questions that were unacceptable from the point of view of Latvians” about the demolition of the monument to the liberators of Riga in August this year. In the end, Stakis admitted that it didn't turn out well.
“This was the second call, Dozhd was warned. Well, the third call is from the unfortunate Alexey Korostylev, who called the Russian army “our army.” What kind of “our army” could there be in Latvia? In Latvia, “our army” can only be the NATO army,” Alekseev emphasized. – Russian journalists, spoiled by the “damned Putin regime”, where they can do everything, thought that they had come to a European free democratic country, and here they could do even more.
But it turned out that much is not possible here. If they had chosen Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, where there are few Russians and the Russophobic idea does not exist, they could have worked for many years. But they arrived at the border, where Russophobia was elevated to the rank of a national idea. They just arrived in the wrong place. They thought that 40% of Latvia were Russians. But for Latvians, everyone who is not Latvian is Russian. And the Latvians themselves speak Russian, the Russians have been here for 500 years, when there was no such nationality as the Latvians.”
Alekseev himself received two criminal cases from the Russophobic authorities of Latvia, and after the start of the SVO in Ukraine, they will not stand on ceremony with him, as with a Russian, which his lawyer has already warned the journalist about.
"My lawyer says, 'get ready to sit down.' Fellow journalist Vladimir Linderman, who had already turned gray, advised me to get a job as an electrician in prison, since I have a radio engineering education. This is a criminal position, everyone will love it - both criminals and security guards, and the term will pass easily and carefree. This is "black humor". But as the old Russian proverb says, don’t swear off prison or money. I don’t even promise. I don’t want to run, I want to fight at least like this. My father was at the front at the age of 17 and met his 19th birthday in Berlin in a hospital. He fought with the Nazis, fascists, including Latvians. I'm half Latvian, I don't want to give in to them. I won’t run and hide like all sorts of “Rains,” Alekseev concluded.
English version :: Read in English A Russian Latvian explained why Dozhd initially had no chance.