Less than a month after the end of the State of Emergency, the Council for the Promotion of Nationally Significant Investment Projects (CPPIIN) has become the body empowered to suspend broadcasting licenses of audiovisual media service providers under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova. To date, the CPPIIN has decided to suspend or withdraw licenses of 31 TV and radio stations and, in some cases, it has requested them to sell their shares. Ten television stations had already been previously suspended by the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CES), and another 21 broadcasters have been targeted by CPPIIN through various measures – from license suspension and withdrawal, to forcing owners to sell their shares. The new mechanism has been described as alarming by both the EU executive institutions and local and international media outlets that claim risks to press freedom and media pluralism. On the other hand, the Chisinau authorities consider the measure justified in the current context of national security.
THE CONTEXT OF EMERGENCE OF THE NEW MECHANISM
The recent report of the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) on the mechanisms for suspending/withdrawing broadcasting licenses of audiovisual media service providers under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova, recalls that at the end of 2023 the state of emergency ended, therefore automatically leading to invalidation of the CES decisions on suspension of licenses of the 12 TV stations, which Media Azi has also recently written about. On 8 December 2023, the then Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, announced that these television stations would not be able to return to the air in the new year, and a few days later, the Speaker of the Parliament, Igor Grosu, said that there were some ‘legal solutions’ allowing further application of some CES decisions. On 29 December 2023, both civil society and the general public learned that the Council for the Promotion of Nationally Significant Investment Projects is the new structure empowered to suspend broadcasting licenses for the time it examines certain necessary information and documents. This occurred when the legislative innovations had already been applied in practice.
As for the specific process of establishing the competence of the CPPIIN, the IJC analysis reports that prior to the emergence of ‘legal solutions’ for the broadcasters subject to CES restrictions, a package of amendments was already before the Parliament concerning ‘ensuring of the integrity and functionality of the electricity market’. It had been consulted on and endorsed by competent institutions between August and November 2023 and has been voted on in the first reading.
On 18 December 2023, just four days before the final vote, the bill was supplemented with an amendment proposed by the MPs Radu Marian and Virgiliu Paslariuc. The new articles, introduced at the last minute, included a mechanism whereby the CPPIIN was granted the authority to suspend broadcasting licenses of television stations even outside the state of emergency. The amendments were voted on in the final reading on 22 December, without prior public consultations, promulgated on the same day and published in the Official Gazette on 23 December 2023.
OUTCOME OF THE CPPIIN DECISIONS
On 27 December 2023, the CPPIIN decided to suspend licenses of ten of the 12 TV stations previously targeted by the CES. Exceptions covered NTV Moldova (Exclusiv Media) and RTR Moldova (TV-Comunicații Grup), which requested the Audiovisual Council (AC) to voluntarily withdraw their licenses; later this request has been approved by the institution.
In the following months, between May and November 2024, the CPPIIN ordered to withdraw licenses of the ten previously suspended television stations and/or to oblige them to alienate their shares.
Subsequently, between December 2023 and March 2025, the Council’s extended powers were also applied to other broadcasters, which were not included in the group initially sanctioned by the CES. During this time, the CPPIIN issued decisions to suspend, withdraw licenses or alienate shares of 21 TV and radio stations that had not been targeted in the previous decisions of the CES. Those 21 media outlets are: Publika FM, Muz FM, Canal 5, Maestro FM, Radio Albena, Mega TV, Euronova FM, N/D, Datina FM, Drive FM, Noah TV, Romano Patrin FM, Art-T, Art-FM, ATV Coguk, Bugeac FM, ATV, N/D, TV Bizim Dalgamiz, N/D and TVC 21.
[The solutions applied concerning the TV/radio stations covered by the CES orders and/or the CPPIIN decisions // table from the IJC report]
[SC1] – Suspended by the CPPIIN [point 2 | PV of 20.03.2024]
[RC1] – [point 2 | Minutes of 08.07.2024], CPPIIN: ‘Refusal of prior approval, with withdrawal of permits for the field of activity; and/or alienation of shares/interests held within 60 days’.
[RC2] – [point 2.2 | Minutes of 07.08.2024]
[RC3] [SC2] – [points 2.2 and 4 | Minutes of 04.09.2024]
[AC1] – [point 1 | Minutes of 30.09.2024] CPPIIN: Prior approval of investments is accepted (Datina FM)
[RC4] – [point 4 | Minutes of 05.11.2024]
[SC3] – Suspended by the CPPIIN [point 3.2 | Minutes of 29.11.2024]
[RC5] – [point 2.3 | Minutes of 10.12.2024]
[AC2] – [point 9.1 | Minutes of 28.01.2024] CPPIIN: Prior approval of investments is accepted (Urania FM)
[RC5] – [point 4 | Minutes of 24.03.2024]The author of the report, the lawyer Cristina Durnea, describes the mechanism whereby the CPPIIN obtained, at the end of 2023, the authority to suspend/withdraw broadcasting licenses as a substitution for the leverage used by the CES during the state of emergency. ‘The statements of state representatives serve as proof, as does the fact that the first decision of the CPPIIN in the audiovisual field aimed specifically at suspending the licenses previously targeted by the CES. The new powers of the CPPIIN were introduced into the law clandestinely, in extremis and without any kind of decision-making transparency. The CPPIIN has the authority to order, outside the state of emergency and without a court decision, based on some grounds that lack predictability, the suspension/withdrawal of the broadcasting license of media entities involved in ‘investments of importance for state security’, she explains.
BRUSSELS AND LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS – SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE NEW MECHANISM
The annual report of the European Commission on the progress of the candidate countries for accession to the European Union (EU), published on 4 November 2025, reveals the danger of this lever of intervention of the CPPIIN in the activity of media service providers. The Brussels executive institution warns that adjusting the mechanism is core to comply with European and international standards, so as not to suppress freedom of expression and media pluralism.
Also, the Director of the IJC, Nadine Gogu, argues that in terms of compliance with democratic standards and those regarding press freedom this mechanism has many vulnerabilities. ‘First of all, suspension of licenses in the absence of a court decision reduces the guarantees of legal control and protection of human rights, and raises questions about the independence of the decision-making process. In addition, involvement of some bodies with several responsibilities, such as this Council, has risks of political use of the mechanism, including to block or sanction media outlets under the pretext of protecting national security,’ she notes.
The representative of the non-governmental media organization also warns that the lack of transparency of the procedure undermines the trust of the press and the general public in the legality of the decisions and, in the context of aspirations for EU integration, these shortcomings may be a significant obstacle for media freedom and pluralism.
HOW THE MINISTER OF CULTURE SEES THIS INSTRUMENT
Contacted by Media Azi, Cristian Jardan, recently appointed Minister of Culture, states that, ‘in the current context, the mechanism has a certain logic when viewed from the perspective of state security’. ‘We have to decide: either we consider the media a fourth power in the state, financially independent and supported by transparent and fair funding sources, or we accept that freedom of expression and media activity should prevail even at the expense of clarity regarding the origin of funds and the purposes for which they are used’, the Minister explains.
Jardan also acknowledges that this instrument can create the risk of abuses of power. ‘That is precisely why I believe that the mechanism should be improved. It may be useful for it to be applied only in extreme situations, but this issue must be debated transparently, including with involvement of the competent institutions that monitor and report in this area’, he concluded.
SIMILAR MECHANISM HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The IJC document notes that, in 2012, the old Audiovisual Code empowered the AC to suspend and withdraw the broadcasting license, at that time – the Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC). Such ACC decision, just like in the case of the CPPIIN, became enforceable from the date of issuance, without any court decision being required. These orders were subject to constitutional review and, on 6 December 2012, the Constitutional Court (CCt) declared them unconstitutional.
Therefore, the IJC recommends that the Moldovan authorities reinstate judicial review of license suspension. ‘Before the introduction of the new mechanism, the legislation provided that forced termination of a license could only take place based on a court decision, providing an additional guarantee of the legality of such decisions. Returning to this principle would eliminate the risk of abusive use of administrative powers to the detriment of press freedom,’ Cristina Durnea argues.