On 19 March, President Edgars Rinkēvičs held a meeting with Sanita Upleja-Jegermane, a member of the Public Electronic Media Council (SEPLP), at the Riga Castle. The President of Latvia expressed his approval of S. Upleja-Jegermane’s decision to continue performing her duties until the end of her term of office, whilst raising attention to numerous issues regarding the merger of public broadcasters, the governance and editorial independence of public broadcasters, and the transition of public broadcasters to content production in the official state language from 1 January 2026.
"In a democratic society, it is important to acknowledge and respect the diversity of opinions and pluralism of visions regarding the future development of public broadcasters. However, these discussions mustn't lose sight of the main objective, which is to implement the decision of the Saeima regarding the merger of public broadcasters and the full transition of public broadcasters to Latvian-language content by 2026. It is also necessary to think about the content in minority languages. Therefore, I urge all members of the Council of Public Electronic Media to work together towards the agreed goal without any deviation," said the President of Latvia.
The President of Latvia informed that a discussion on the future development of public broadcasters will be held on 8 April at the Riga Castle. President Rinkēvičs invited representatives of the Saeima factions, the Ministry of Culture, SEPLP members, the Media Ombudsman, management of public broadcasters, media content editors and managers, representatives of journalists' organizations, and media experts to participate in the discussion.
