PRAGUE, November 5 (RIA Novosti) – Slovakia's television and radio supervising authority fined state television channel STV for one-sided coverage of the March events in Crimea, which it said disregarded Moscow's stance on the situation, Radio Praha reported Wednesday.
"Slovakian committee on television and radio broadcasting fined Slovakia's state-owned STV television channel for one-sided coverage of the March events in Crimea, when the TV preferred to broadcast the stance of the European Union and the United States, ignoring Russia's stance," the radio said.
The media watchdog added that not providing air time for Russian officials' responses to Western accusations regarding the reunification of Crimea was STV's principal mistake.
However, representatives of the fined TV channel explained that they had lacked timely information on Moscow's reaction to the Crimea events and denied the accusations of being biased.
On March 16, Crimea reunified with Russia, following a referendum on the status of the region. The Ukrainian government and the West refused to recognize the results of the vote, calling it illegal. Washington and Brussels imposed sanctions against a number of Russian and Ukrainian individuals the West claimed were involved in the reunification process.
