MOLDOVAN President Igor Dodon is refusing to sign an “unconstitutional” ban on “foreign propaganda” into law.

Moldova’s governing Democrats have pushed the law through parliament, but it is seen by critics as a one-sided attack on Russian media.

Democrat Party chairman Vladimir Plahotniuc has attacked “media manipulation” which spreads “defamation” of “our country but also our development partners in the EU and US.”

It will be easier to ban the broadcasts than to “check day by day” whether their reports are reliable because of the “huge load of work” the latter option would entail, says Mr Plahotniuc, who owns Prime TV, the country’s biggest television network and could stand to gain from the elimination of rivals.

Parliamentary speaker Andrian Candu says only “propaganda” will be banned, which will be achieved by allowing broadcasts only from “the EU, US, Canada and countries that ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.”

But President Dodon said Moldovans should have “the opportunity to receive information from all sources.

“Democracy means pluralism of opinions,” he declared.