President Zatlers said he was satisfied with the changes the Saeima made to the bill after his initial veto. Photo by the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Latvia.

RIGA — President Valdis Zatlers signed a bill into law requiring broadcasters to air 65 percent of programming in the Latvian language.

The controversial bill, which requires television and radio broadcasters to have 65 percent of air time, including at least 40 percent during primetime hours between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. be conducted in the Latvian language forcing the country’s Russian-language media to change formats. The Russian foreign ministry criticized the new law, calling it a violation of the rights of Latvia’s sizable ethnic Russian minority.

Zatlers initially vetoed the bill but parliament passed the bill with the changes he requested last week.

The bill is part of a long-term government goal of having all residents be fluent in Latvian by 2030. As the president insisted, the law now applies to regional as well as national broadcasters.

The law comes into effect later this year.

Exactly how effective it will be remains unclear, as National Council for Radio and Television head Abram Kletskin called the law “meaningless” in an interview with the Russian-language newspaper Telegraf last week as newer televisions allow viewers to choose languages, effectively rendering moot the law’s goal of broadcasting in Latvian only.

“When LTV broadcast the World Cup, viewers could choose the language. New technologies give viewers more freedom. And once they become everyday reality, restrictive rules of this kind would lose its meaning,” Kletskin said. The council is the government agency responsible for issuing licenses for broadcasters.

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