The Latvian Saeima rejected the candidacy of Ivars Belte for the Media Council (@seplpadome). The parties PRO, Šlesers, and Rosļikov supported him, but the majority was convinced by the NA party to vote against. Ivars Belte is linked to pro-Russian media influence in Latvia, having played a key role in implementing Kremlin priorities in the Baltics, specifically preventing the elimination of the Russian language in media. He was involved as the CEO of PBC and later as the head of Latvian Television (LTV), where he quadrupled Russian content on LTV, including closing Latvian-language programs. In 2018, Belte reported that 50% of the TV content viewed in Latvia was in Russian and advocated for a separate Russian-language TV channel in public media.

The Latvian Saeima rejected the candidacy of Ivars Belte for the Media Council (@seplpadome). The parties PRO, Šlesers, and Rosļikov supported him, but the majority was convinced by the NA party to vote against. Ivars Belte is linked to pro-Russian media influence in Latvia, having played a key role in implementing Kremlin priorities in the Baltics, specifically preventing the elimination of the Russian language in media. He was involved as the CEO of PBC and later as the head of Latvian Television (LTV), where he quadrupled Russian content on LTV, including closing Latvian-language programs. In 2018, Belte reported that 50% of the TV content viewed in Latvia was in Russian and advocated for a separate Russian-language TV channel in public media.