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COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONCERNED AT LACK OF MEDIA PLURALISM IN ARMENIA

Official

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Walter Schwimmer, has today expressed his disappointment and concern following the recent decision by the National Commission on Television and Radio in Armenia not to award broadcasting licences to the independent television companies A1+ and Noyan Tapan.

"Unfortunately, this decision is another example of the insufficient respect for pluralism in Armenia, which has been troubling us for several months - in particular during the recent election campaigns," said Mr Schwimmer.

"Time and again we have been told that independent broadcasters would be given serious opportunities to become part of the audiovisual landscape in Armenia, only for applications such as these to be summarily dismissed," he added.

Supporting the comments made earlier this week by Freimut Duve, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr Schwimmer concluded that the time had come for the Armenian authorities as a whole to accept the expression of a broader range of opinions if Armenia wanted to become further integrated into Europe.