CHISINAU. April 19 (Interfax) - The Moldovan government approved a bill on the country's withdrawal from the Mir interstate television and radio broadcaster agreements on Wednesday.
The bill denounces the Mir founding agreement of 1992, the 1993 agreement on international legal guarantees of the unimpeded, independent operation of the Mir broadcaster, and a number of other documents.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said he saw no point in "further investment in propaganda," since Mir did not provide accurate information about the hostilities in Ukraine.
"The channel will no longer be broadcast in [Moldova]," government press secretary Daniel Vode told reporters after a government meeting.
"As Prime Minister Dorin Recean said, Moldova will no longer finance disinformation and propaganda. We will also save money. In total, Moldova allotted 40.3 million lei (about 2.5 million euros) to fund Mir until 2022. That is a substantial sum of money," Vode said. He noted that Moldova stopped funding the project last year after the start of hostilities in Ukraine.
"The bill will be submitted for parliament's approval," he said.
In turn, Gagauzia head Irina Vlah described the decision as "a big mistake," and said that "In this way, Moldova will lose an audience of many millions, as well as the opportunity to promote national projects, including in tourism."
The activity of the Mir broadcaster is regulated by an agreement on international legal guarantees of Mir's unimpeded, independent operation, which was signed by members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Ashgabat in 1993.