You're reading: Ukraine’s TV channel Inter says all accusations against it unfounded

Ukraine's Inter television channel has confirmed that its New Year's Eve line-up meets all requirements of national legislation. 

“The requirements of Ukrainian legislation were met in full both during the
production of the channel’s own Wait for Me in the New Year project, as well as
during the inclusion of New Year programs by other producers [in the TV
channel’s schedule],” Inter said in a statement posted on its website.

Inter dismissed all accusations levied against it by other Ukrainian media
companies on January 1, 2015 as pressure on the TV channel.

“The latest remarks criticizing Inter are pointless and unfounded. We regard
such statements as provocations and political pressure on the media,” it
said.

According to earlier reports, throughout New Year’s night, the Inter TV
channel was broadcasting programs involving Russian pop singers, including those
who have been accused of demonstrating their anti-Ukrainian views.

In his statement, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC)
Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said that Inter should be stripped of its
broadcasting license for “mocking the entire nation”.

Ukrainian Information Policy Minister Yuriy Stets, for his part, said he
could not demand the withdrawal of the broadcasting license from this TV channel
because such a measure could be regarded as pressure on the National Council for
Television and Radio Broadcasting.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Viacheslav Kyrylenko
announced plans to ask the cabinet to take TV channels engaged in “popularizing
Russian propaganda” off the air.

The National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting intends to invite
the management of Inter to its next meeting, at which the TV station’s New
Year’s Eve line-up will be discussed.

The council has also invited the Ukrainian Security Service, NSDC, the
parliamentary freedom of speech committee and a group of MPs to its session.