Politicians take aim at LRT – Lithuania’s public service broadcaster

LRT headquarters. Photo: Justinas Stacevičius

Leader of the Nemunas Dawn populist party, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, previously outlined his wish to tackle the country’s public broadcaster, with his party passing a resolution on November 8 that said “the biggest threat to society” stemmed from the political opposition and the media.

Similar rhetoric was used in countries like Hungary, “where politicians proclaiming radical ideas came to power”, said Džina Donauskaitė, head of the Lithuanian Journalism Centre NGO.

Žemaitaitis has become known for controversial statements, including for promising to “give the coordinates” of political opponents in the event of a Russian invasion. Meanwhile, his party has gained wide support in the country by doubling-down on criticism of the Conservative Party (TS-LKD), liberal policies, and the media.

Nemunas Dawn MPs also led the calls for an audit of LRT, which concluded in early November. It found shortcomings in the operations of the public broadcaster – profiled here. Despite allegations of criminal corruption by the Nemunas Dawn-aligned politicians, Irena Segalovičienė, the head of the audit appointed by the country’s president, said there were no “indications of criminal activity”.

However, the head of the parliament’s audit commission, Artūras Skardžius from the Nemunas Dawn party, said the conclusions didn’t go far enough, claiming he would continue probing himself. Investigative reporters previously uncovered his business ties to Russia and Belarus.

Following the conclusion of the audit, Žemaitaitis proposed to change the laws governing LRT’s management, which would ease the dismissal of the broadcaster’s leadership. If approved, only six out of twelve votes in the LRT Council – instead of eight, as per current rules – will be needed to fire the general director of LRT.

The Council is a supervisory body made up of 12 members – four are appointed by the president, four by the parliament (two by the parties in power, and two by the opposition), and four by various civil society organisations. Thus, if the changes are approved, it will be enough for the president’s four representatives, and two from the parties in power, to fire the director general of LRT and thus change the leadership of the broadcaster.
​
The vote would also be held by a secret ballot, and for any reason. Currently, the general director can only be dismissed if they are shown to act against the public interest. Critics say this will politicise the LRT, meaning that political parties in power will be able to replace its leadership at will.

“The current version of the law still includes a safeguard against a politically-motivated dismissal of the director general – two of the political representatives are delegated by the parliamentary opposition and two by the governing majority. Therefore, the votes of the civil society members may become decisive if there were a political attempt to remove the director general,” Irena Vaišvilaitė, one of the civil society members of the LRT Council, said on Facebook.

According to her, previous parliamentary majorities also eyed similar reforms, but realised that “the instrument of political control over LRT is double-edged and, once the majority in the Seimas changes, it will easily take over control of the National Broadcaster as well”. The Nemunas Dawn MPs also proposed to freeze and then cut the funding of LRT, which is now the country’s largest media organisation. All the proposed changes were decried by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the International Press Institute.

“These changes risk undermining the autonomy and independence of LRT, eroding longstanding safeguards that protect the integrity of Lithuania’s public service media from undue political influence,” EBU director general Noel Curran wrote in an appeal to the country’s lawmakers, urging them to reconsider the changes. The Council of Europe also published a statement, saying that “several ongoing initiatives in Lithuania have raised concern about risks to the independence and effective functioning of the public broadcaster”.
​
The two main journalists’ unions in the country, the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union and the Association of Professional Journalists, sent an open letter to the Speaker of the Seimas, Juozas Olekas, and other lawmakers earlier this week, urging them to vote against the proposal.​ Furthermore, the parliament’s legal department said the proposed changes may run counter to the constitution. However, Speaker Olekas, a social democrat, said he welcomed the proposed changes.

“We need to assess the audit materials, and the appointment or dismissal of leaders, I believe, should be similar to other organisations,” he told the Žinių Radijas radio. Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė welcomed the proposed changes, saying the secret ballot would also “provide more safety” for members of the LRT Council.

“That should eliminate various prior agreements, certain constraints, and other elements from the voting process,” she told reporters, adding that the aim was to “decrease pressure on the council members” who are now voting openly. The president’s office declined to comment, telling BNS that “the president does not comment on draft legal acts that are in the initial stages of the legislative process”.

The apparent willingness of the ruling MPs to back the changes sparked a petition by journalists and civil society activists, saying that “the amendments threaten the independence of LRT and resemble an attempt to take over the public broadcaster by replacing its director with someone more favourable to politicians”.

Over 30,000 people signed it on the first day alone. Non-governmental organisations and much of the civil society sector view these proposed changes as part of ongoing attempts by the Nemunas Dawn politicians to subvert the country’s democratic institutions.

Following the coalition reshuffle in August, Nemunas Dawn was handed the Culture Ministry, which sparked nationwide protests. At the time, activists and critics voiced fears that the party would use funding instruments for the non-governmental sector and journalism – which are overseen by the ministry – to control the country’s media landscape, which Reporters Without Borders list as one of the freest globally.

“The Speaker of the Seimas speaks as if expressing the opinion of the LRT Council, but, as the Council’s chairman, Mindaugas Jurkynas, told the media, the Council has not discussed amendments to the LRT Law and has no common position on this issue. I can confirm this as a member of the Council,” Vaisvilaite wrote.

The Council said it wanted to maintain the two-third majority requirement to fire the general director. Jurkynas, head of the Council, said they “supported the other aspects of the proposed law changes”, without specifying which. The other proposals deal with the financial changes, the secret balloting, as well as allowing other reasons for dismissing the director general. The parliament has completed the first reading of the bill.

Budget frozen

The parliament voted in favour of freezing LRT’s budget until 2029, followed by cuts to its funding – from 1 per cent allocated from the personal income tax to 0.75 per cent, and from 1.3 per cent from excise duty to 0.8 per cent. LRT was projected to grow from 79.6 million euros to 88.2 million euros in 2026, but will now remain frozen at the present amount.

The two Lithuanian journalists’ associations have now turned to the European Commission, sending a letter addressed to Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, as well as European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath. In it, they call on Brussels to “take note of this situation and its potential implications for media freedom, democratic governance, and the rule of law in Lithuania”.

Bill passes first hurdle

The bill to ease the procedure to dismiss the director general passed its first reading, with 60 votes in favour, 45 against and five abstentions. The bill will now move to the parliamentary Committee for Culture, before being put back to the Seimas on December 11. The parliament rejected proposals to first vet the bill if it did not run counter to the constitution.

This text was republished through the partnership between New Eastern Europe and LRT English.

Benas Gerdžiūnas is a journalist at the Lithuanian public broadcaster, LRT.

Baltics, freedom of press, Lithuania