To the Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM), Artūrs Toms Plešs
To the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia (LVAF)
To the managers of SIA “EHR Mediju Grupa”, Rihards Zaks and Uģis Polis
To the media

The Farmers’ Parliament association
The Union of Forest Owners of Latvia association
The Latvian Association of Agricultural Cooperatives association
The Latvian Young Farmers’ Club association
The Cooperation Council of Agricultural Organisations association
The Farmers’ Union association
The Association of Agricultural Statutory Companies association

Riga, 21 May 2021

Regarding the public defamation of farmers using taxpayer money

Latvian farmers, foresters, and the non-governmental organisations representing them find the manner in which the Latvian agricultural sector is being discredited and publicly defamed with co-financing from the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund (LVAF), administered by VARAM, to be categorically unacceptable.

It is with deep regret that we note that on 20 May 2021, between 10:30 and 11:30, the radio station EHR broadcast a pre-recorded audio segment with financial support from the LVAF, in which Latvian farmers were described as mass murderers. This recording is a crude attempt to divide society and cultivate intolerance, deliberately and offensively targeting the agricultural sector. The recording, in the form of a theatrical sketch, incorporates false and insulting messages:

* It is claimed that in the world of bees, (..) the farmer is most certainly a notorious mass murderer;

* It is claimed that in the aquatic world, (..) you have earned the reputation of a mass murderer;

* It is said that the murder of bee colonies is taking place through the spraying of rapeseed fields;

* It is claimed that farmers are interested only in profit-making;

* The raw materials used on Latvian farms are described as “filth”;

* It is falsely illustrated that the same “sprayed rapeseed” is grown year after year in Latvia, resulting in the soil being depleted, becoming uniform, and soon being fit for nothing;

* It is claimed that contraception will soon be unnecessary because all humans will have become infertile due to “pesticides”;

* It is theatrically pointed out that farmers develop respiratory problems when spraying fields.

Spending state budget funds to create advertisements in which those working in agriculture are branded as “mass murderers” is unacceptable. By investing funds in such advertisements, a hostile attitude toward people working in the agricultural sector is cultivated in society, fostering intolerance not only toward those in the industry but also toward their families, which is particularly distressing for their children.

Beyond the human humiliation of those in the agricultural sector and their families, the advertisement is overtly harmful to the sectors most essential to the state economy and to both of the country’s largest export industries. It is unacceptable for such advertisements to stoke hatred in society. Such actions create legal nihilism, threatening the rule of law in the country. It cultivates public distrust in the legislative acts of the Republic of Latvia and the European Union, the authorities controlling the agricultural sector of the LR and EU, the scientific institutions evaluating the safety of food and plant protection products (PPP), as well as practical farmers and foresters.

We believe that such promotion of public distrust in science and legislation will negatively affect the Latvian economy in the long term, much like what is currently observed with human distrust in COVID-19 vaccines, which significantly threatens the recovery of Latvia’s economy and social sphere following the COVID-19 pandemic. We see an analogous similarity in the agricultural and forestry sectors, where distrust in used practices and control systems is being cultivated with the help of LVAF funding.

Agricultural and forestry organisations reiterate that VARAM has long been unable to create solutions for the implementation of an inclusive environmental and nature protection policy, resulting in a failure to generate collaborative solutions with the desired outcomes. The current policy is implemented through the discrediting and fighting of productive sectors. For years, no farmers’ or foresters’ organisation has been accepted into the Environmental Advisory Council, nor have they been involved in LVAF-funded activities or, in the case of foresters, LIFE projects, to successfully address the sectors and people who manage the vast majority of Latvia’s territory. Instead, millions of taxpayer funds are spent to influence public opinion, which creates no solutions but instead divides society.

To immediately resolve the current situation and prevent the formation of similar situations in the future, we demand:

* A public apology to Latvian farmers from the Chairman of the LVAF Council and VARAM Minister Artūrs Toms Plešs, and from the managers of SIA “EHR mediju grupa”, Rihards Zaks and Uģis Polis;

* Amendments to the terms of the LVAF activities “Promoting public environmental awareness in the media”, “Building public understanding and promoting participation (actions, campaigns), including youth involvement and measures for promoting youth environmental awareness”, and “Strengthening the cooperation and capacity of environmental non-governmental organisations” so that it is no longer possible to provide biased, one-sided, pseudo-scientific, unfounded, and hate-inciting information using LVAF funds;

* The removal of the LVAF management from their positions, and a review and changes to the composition of the LVAF Council to promote the objectivity of the Council’s work in the interests of the state, rather than a narrow group (or groups);

* The establishment of an advisory council for agriculture, forestry, and environmental protection.

We wish to emphasise that this is not the first instance where false information has been disseminated in the media with LVAF funding. The “Farmers’ Parliament” association has previously approached the LVAF Council, calling for an evaluation of the compliance of disseminating overtly false and distorted news about Latvian agriculture with LVAF regulations, as well as the potential hidden advertising of political persons using the taxpayers' money of the Republic of Latvia. It is with deep regret that we must admit – even though a representative of the LVAF administration initially agreed in the first letter that the presentation and interpretation of certain facts “was not a model of best practice”, after an in-depth assessment, the LVAF Fund Council decided that this type of communication regarding the agricultural sector was acceptable and did not identify any violations.

This precedent on the part of VARAM and the LVAF has provided complete freedom to LVAF funding recipients to continue publishing unverified and false information about the Latvian agricultural and forestry sectors, as well as other environment-related issues. The ethics, truthfulness, and credibility of the information presented have been left to the discretion of the funding recipient; however, with the aforementioned precedent, VARAM and the LVAF effectively ensure the impunity and untouchability of the funding recipient.

We demand a response regarding the fulfilment of the aforementioned requirements by 28 May 2021 at 11:00. Otherwise, Latvian agricultural and forestry non-governmental organisations will be forced to follow the example of German and French farmers by organising large-scale farmer protest actions.

Respectfully –

Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre,
Vice-Chair of the Board, Farmers’ Parliament

Arnis Muižnieks,
Chairman of the Board, Union of Forest Owners of Latvia

Indulis Jansons,
Chairman of the Board, Latvian Association of Agricultural Cooperatives

Sandra Eimane,
Chair of the Board, Latvian Young Farmers’ Club

Edgars Treibergs,
Chairman of the Board, Cooperation Council of Agricultural Organisations

Andris Gargurnis,
Vice-Chair of the Board, Farmers’ Union

Kaspars Melnis,
Chairman of the Board, Association of Agricultural Statutory Companies