It's hot in Lithuania. Mass demonstration against changes in public media

Over 10 thousand people protested on Wednesday evening in Vilnius in front of the Sejm against changes to the law on the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, which are being considered by the parliament. Demonstration participants warned that the proposed regulations could limit the independence of public media and lead to their politicization.

The head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kestutis Budrys, said on Thursday that “the country's (authorities) cannot allow democratic standards or media freedom to be undermined.”

The dissatisfaction of society and the journalistic community is caused by the project, which provides, among others, entering the definition of the mission of a public broadcaster into the act, which is currently not included in the regulations, creating a new body – the management board, as well as expanding the composition of the current LRT council from 12 to 15 members.

It is also proposed to limit the participation of representatives of other media in the creation of public broadcaster content and to simplify the current rules for dismissing the Director General before the end of his term of office.

Journalists and experts emphasize that the proposed amendments may harm the independence of editorial policy, make it difficult to conduct joint international and national journalistic projects, and create obstacles to inviting journalists from other editorial offices who comment on current events in their area of ​​​​specialization to radio and television programs.

Wednesday's protest in front of the Sejm at Independence Square was the second social action involving thousands of people in defense of the public broadcaster. The first one took place in December, when the parliamentary majority – mainly social democrats – tried to adopt the amendment to the act in an accelerated procedure. After an unsuccessful attempt to push through the changes in parliament, a working group on the reform of LRT management was established. However, the journalistic community and academic experts point out that the proposals currently being discussed are no different from those from the end of last year, and are even more dangerous.

Protesters express fear of the introduction of mechanisms resembling censorship, limiting the freedom of action of journalists and allowing politicians to influence the content prepared by the public broadcaster.

Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys emphasized on Thursday in an interview with the Żiniu radijas radio station that “Lithuania should avoid situations that could raise doubts about the state of democracy and freedom of speech in the country.” At the same time, he expressed his belief that both these standards would be maintained.

The minister pointed out that Lithuania's high positions in media freedom rankings reflect the level of democracy in the country and constitute an important reference point for the entire region.

Lithuania's position in the global Democracy Index is stable. The country remains around 39th in this ranking.

From Vilnius Aleksandra Akińczo (PAP)

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