The Embassy of the United States in Moldova is concerned over the abrupt exclusion of Accent TV, RTR Moldova and Jurnal TV from several cable packages and calls on the Moldovan authorities to ensure a fair and transparent operating environment where all media outlets can compete honestly and without favoritism, it said in a press release.

“These exclusions limit the Moldovan people’s access to different viewpoints and damage the media environment. This seems to be the latest action in a disturbing trend where media outlets disappear from the airwaves for less than transparent reasons, as we saw in 2012 with the withdrawal of NIT's broadcast license. This is not the media environment that Moldovans deserve.

“We firmly believe that a healthy media environment reflects a diversity of views and perspectives, and allows for opposition voices to be heard”, reads the press release.

The parties forming the governing coalition also commented on the situation. In particular, the Liberal Democrats said the limitation of several TV channels' access to cable networks is “regrettable” and promised to propose regulations “in the spirit of the right to freedom of expression”.

The Democratic Party called on both cable operators and the channels in question to adopt a constructive approach and identify solutions together. At the same time, the Democrats think the issue should not be a reason for “manipulative speculation” and escalation of tensions.

The Liberal Reformatory Party described the exclusions as “an attempt of undermining the independence of media”, and asked the broadcasting agency to urgently investigate the reasons behind the situation.

Earlier this month, the channels Accent TV and RTR Planeta were removed from some cable TV lineups. On Monday, Jurnal TV announced that SunTV, a major TV provider, relegated it to less attractive packages, while other regional cable providers removed it altogether.