Baltic nation’s state broadcaster protests political interference
Lithuania’s state broadcaster LRT has accused the ruling coalition of trying to subjugate independent media, as lawmakers fast-track amendments that would make it easier to dismiss the outlet’s director general.
Parliament last week backed the first reading of a bill submitted by Remigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the populist Dawn of Nemunas party, to lower the dismissal threshold to a simple majority from the current two-thirds. Zemaitaitis has since floated a compromise requiring at least seven of the council’s twelve votes, while the LRT Council insists the existing qualified-majority rule of eight votes should remain.
In a statement on Monday, LRT journalists and other employees urged the government to withdraw the draft, saying the changes were being pushed through without involving media organizations and legal experts. They warned the proposal contradicts the European Media Freedom Act and may clash with Lithuania’s Constitutional Court doctrine, arguing it could allow each new government to install a loyal director.
“Our concern is not about any specific individuals – we are protesting against efforts to dismantle the safeguards that protect LRT’s independence,” the statement published on LRT’s website read.
The row follows a planned “political neutrality” audit of LRT and a parliamentary decision to freeze the broadcaster’s funding for 2026-2028. Staff say the steps threaten the outlet’s independence.
Employees have announced a week-long protest, including brief on-air silences, and have called on the public to join a rally outside parliament on December 9.
In November, Dawn of Nemunas adopted a resolution accusing Lithuanian media of abandoning public-service principles and becoming “tools not of conveying information, but of concealment, open propaganda, and sowing discord.”
The resolution came amid a widening fight over control of Lithuania’s information space – a sensitive issue, as Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia have taken one of the EU’s hardest lines toward Moscow since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022.
Moscow has rejected claims that it poses a threat to Western nations as “nonsense” and fearmongering, and has condemned what it calls the West’s “reckless militarization.”
