Ambassador approaches RRsat, an Israeli company that had been helping to keep shut-down station on air
Efforts to keep Greek state TV alive after the government ordered it to be shut down were dealt a blow after a diplomatic intervention in Israel.
The Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, requested the assistance of his ambassador in Tel Aviv after it emerged that one of the companies keeping ERT on air was owned by an Israeli firm.
Defiant journalists occupying ERT studios in Athens and Thessaloniki have been able to keep an unbroken skeleton news service going since 11 June, when Samaras ordered its abrupt closure, thanks to the European Broadcasting Union which provided technical facilities to continue transmitting into Greek homes via three satellites.
Officials in Athens confirmed that Greece's ambassador to Israel, Spyros Lambrinis, had held talks with the Israeli government after it became clear that RRsat, a privately-owned local company and subcontractor of the EBU, was continuing to transmit ERT via its uplink facilities in Greece.
But the official stopped short of saying that he had urged the Israeli government to intervene. "The ambassador handed the relevant authorities a letter from the finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, explaining the new situation in Greece and making it clear that the national economy ministry is now the 'successor entity' to ERT," he told the Guardian.
"He made no demands as such but, yes, it is a rather unpleasant situation," added the official who contacted the ambassador before speaking to the Guardian.
The EBU received a letter from the Greek finance minister warning of legal consequences to their action last week, despite international condemnation of the broadcaster's closure.
It is understood that RRSat told the EBU in a letter it had decided to stop broadcasting ERT's signal after being approached directly by the Greek ambassador to Israel.
Two of the satellites are continuing to broadcast the signal, meaning there is still some coverage in Greece alongside internet streaming.
Journalists inside the occupied ERT building in Athens said staff continue to work for free, putting programmes out on air while hundreds of protestors maintain a vigil outside. The phone lines have been cut off, but there is still power in the building.
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