World War Three: Inside The War Room, a programme by the BBC exploring the possibility of the Russian invasion of the Baltics, aired on Latvian national broadcaster last Friday. The hypothetical series of events starts with uprisings in Russian-dominated regions of Latvia.
About 80 people rallied near the government building in Riga on Friday with posters saying in Latvian, Russian and English: “War psychosis – not for our money”, “BBC, stop spreading rumours about Daugavpils”, and the like, LETA reports.
The event was organized by the Russian Union, a political party representing Latvia's Russian-speaking population. Its representatives said the BBC's programme demonized Russian speakers and incited ethnic tensions.
Tatjana Zdanoka, a Latvian MEP of the Russian Union, said at the rally that that the film had been developed by American propaganda experts.
The BBC aired War Three: Inside The War Room on February 3. It plays out a scenario in which Russia occupies 20 Latvian towns and cities near the Russian border in an attempt to support pro-Kremlin separatists ravaging the country. When NATO leaders fail to decide on how to respond to the invasion, both the United States and Great Britain decide to send in their soldiers to counter the Russian force. Russia responds by launching a nuclear attack.