The Belarusian Telegraph Agency or BelTA (Belarusian: Беларускае Тэлеграфнае Агенцтва, Russian: Белорусское Телеграфное Агентство, БелТА) is the state-owned national news agency of the Republic of Belarus. It operates in Russian, Belarusian, English, German, Spanish, Polish and Chinese languages.[1] Since 2018, the director of BELTA is Irina Akulovich.[2]
 | |
Native name | Беларускае тэлеграфнае агенцтва |
|---|---|
| Company type | State media |
| Founded | December 23, 1918 |
| Headquarters | Minsk, Belarus |
| Products | Wire service |
| Owner | Government of Belarus |
| Website | belta |
History
editThe agency was founded on December 23, 1918. During the Soviet times BelTA cooperated with the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS), although it was legally independent of it.[citation needed]
After the USSR ceased to exist in 1991, BelTA has been the national news agency of Belarus. It transmits over a hundred daily reports, and provides information to other news agencies of Commonwealth of Independent States members about the activities of Belarusian officials and organizations in and out of the country.[citation needed]
BelTA has offices in all regions of Belarus, as well as abroad. The main office is in Minsk.[citation needed]
Criticism
editSome observers called BelTA a propaganda outlet.[3][4][5]
The BelTA Director-General Dzmitry Zhuk was banned from entering the European Union between 2011 and 2016 as part of the EU's sanctions against Belarus following what the EU describes as a crackdown of opposition protests after the 2010 presidential election.[6] According to the EU Council's decision concerning restrictive measures against Belarus following the 2010 election, Dzmitry Zhuk is responsible for "relaying state propaganda in the media, which has supported and justified the repression of the democratic opposition and of civil society on December 19, 2010 using falsified information."[7]
The BelTA Director-General Irina Akulovich came under EU and Swiss sanctions in summer 2024.[8][9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ BELTA website (English language version)
- ^ "New director general introduced to BelTA's staff | Press releases, Belarus | Belarus.by". www.belarus.by. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ^ Григорська, Ніна (May 31, 2021). "Справа TUT.BY: головній редакторці видання загрожує до 7 років в'язниці" (in Ukrainian). Novoe Vremia. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
Державний пропагандистський ресурс БелТА повідомив...
- ^ Стороженко, Станислав (May 24, 2021). "Беларусь и Латвия обоюдно выслали всех дипломатов" (in Russian). ЛІГА.net. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
... передает пропагандистское агентство БелТА.
- ^ Meisner, Matthias (April 10, 2014). "Wie das Lukaschenko-Regime die CDU vorführte" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. ISSN 1865-2263. Archived from the original on October 2, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
Für die weißrussischen Propagandamedien erfüllte die Visite in Deutschland mit dem Besuchsprogramm im Bundestag einen ganz anderen Zweck. ... Die Belarussische Telegraphenagentur (Belta) verbreitete eine ganze Reihe von Meldungen zum Besuch der Politiker-Delegation in Deutschland. ...
- ^ Поўны спіс 208 беларускіх чыноўнікаў, якім забаронены ўезд у ЕС – [Full list of 208 Belarusian officials banned from entering the EU], Nasha Niva, October 11, 2011
- ^ "Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus". EUR-Lex.
- ^ "Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/2116 of 26 July 2024". EUR-Lex.
- ^ "Ordinance on measures against Belarus". State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
External links
edit
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