ARTE continues to consolidate its European strategy. Following on from Spanish public broadcaster RTVE and Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, who signed up in 2022, Latvian broadcaster LTV is now set to join ARTE’s network of European partners in October 2023 – a network that also includes RTBF (Belgium), ORF (Austria), Yle (Finland), CT (Czech Republic), SSR SRG (Switzerland), RAI Com (Italy), Film Fund Luxembourg and RTÉ (Ireland).

At its General Assembly today, the Channel approved a partnership agreement for joint co-productions or pre-purchases with ARTE.

ARTE has already engaged in editorial cooperation with LTV during the course of 2023. The Sunrise Concert, starring the great Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna is currently online on arte.tv, as is the Latvian Song and Dance Festival 2023. ARTE and LTV will be filming Adriana Lecouvreur at the Latvian National Opera in Riga, as part of the ARTE Opera Season in 2024.

Under the terms of the agreements, the partners are represented in an advisory capacity on the main bodies of the European culture channel.

Bruno Patino and Peter Weber, respectively President and Vice President of the Management Board, stressed that ARTE GEIE’s network of European partner channels and organizations, which now comprises 11 active members, is at the heart of ARTE’s European strategy. “The partnership agreements make a crucial contribution to ARTE’s European approach, both in terms of programming and governance. Given the current geopolitical context, we are delighted to welcome a new public service channel from a Baltic country into the network. True to its mission of fostering mutual understanding and bringing people together in Europe, ARTE continues to make a major contribution towards creating a European cultural area.”

Ivars Priede, Chairperson of LTV’s Board of Directors, welcomed the agreement with ARTE, “a channel recognized the world over for its spirit of openness and its quality programming. Culture plays a major role in our conflict-ridden societies. This partnership agreement should be a sign of hope for our fellow Europeans, who are currently in need of a reference point”.