Leader of the Nemunas Dawn populist party, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, previously outlined his want to tackle the country’s public broadcaster, with his organization passing a resolution on November 8 that said “the biggest threat to society” stemmed from the political opposition and the media.
Similar rhetoric was utilized in countries like Hungary, “where politicians proclaiming extremist 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 organization has gained wide support in the country by doubling-down on criticism of the Conservative organization (TS-LKD), liberal policies, and the media.
Nemunas Dawn MPs besides 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 proceed 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 12 votes in the LRT Council – alternatively of eight, as per current rules – will be needed to fire the general manager of LRT.
The Council is simply a supervisory body made up of 12 members – 4 are appointed by the president, 4 by the parliament (two by the parties in power, and 2 by the opposition), and 4 by various civilian society organisations. Thus, if the changes are approved, it will be adequate for the president’s 4 representatives, and 2 from the parties in power, to fire the manager general of LRT and thus change the leadership of the broadcaster.
The vote would besides be held by a secret ballot, and for any reason. Currently, the general manager 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 inactive includes a safeguard against a politically-motivated dismissal of the manager general – 2 of the political representatives are delegated by the parliamentary opposition and 2 by the governing majority. Therefore, the votes of the civilian society members may become decisive if there were a political effort to remove the manager general,” Irena Vaišvilaitė, 1 of the civilian society members of the LRT Council, said on Facebook.
According to her, erstwhile parliamentary majorities besides eyed akin reforms, but realised that “the instrument of political control over LRT is double-edged and, erstwhile the majority in the Seimas changes, it will easy take over control of the National Broadcaster as well”. The Nemunas Dawn MPs besides proposed to frost and then cut the backing 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 global Press Institute.
“These changes hazard undermining the autonomy and independency of LRT, eroding longstanding safeguards that defend the integrity of Lithuania’s public service media from undue political influence,” EBU manager general Noel Curran wrote in an appeal to the country’s lawmakers, urging them to reconsider the changes. The Council of Europe besides published a statement, saying that “several ongoing initiatives in Lithuania have raised concern about risks to the independency and effective functioning of the public broadcaster”.
The 2 main journalists’ unions in the country, the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union and the Association of Professional Journalists, sent an open letter to the talker of the Seimas, Juozas Olekas, and another 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, talker Olekas, a social democrat, said he welcomed the proposed changes.
“We request to measure the audit materials, and the appointment or dismissal of leaders, I believe, should be akin to another organisations,” he told the Žinių Radijas radio. Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė welcomed the proposed changes, saying the secret ballot would besides “provide more safety” for members of the LRT Council.
“That should destruct various prior agreements, certain constraints, and another elements from the voting process,” she told reporters, adding that the aim was to “decrease force 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 first stages of the legislative process”.
The apparent willingness of the ruling MPs to back the changes sparked a petition by journalists and civilian society activists, saying that “the amendments endanger the independency of LRT and match an effort to take over the public broadcaster by replacing its manager with individual more favourable to politicians”.
Over 30,000 people signed it on the first day alone. Non-governmental organisations and much of the civilian 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 organization would usage backing 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 1 of the freest globally.
“The talker 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 associate of the Council,” Vaisvilaite wrote.
The Council said it wanted to keep the two-third majority request to fire the general director. Jurkynas, head of the Council, said they “supported the another aspects of the proposed law changes”, without specifying which. The another proposals deal with the financial changes, the secret balloting, as well as allowing another reasons for dismissing the manager 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 backing – from 1 per cent allocated from the individual income taxation to 0.75 per cent, and from 1.3 per cent from excise work 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 stay frozen at the present amount.
The 2 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 possible implications for media freedom, democratic governance, and the regulation of law in Lithuania”.
Bill passes first hurdle
The bill to ease the procedure to dismiss the manager general passed its first reading, with 60 votes in favour, 45 against and 5 abstentions. The bill will now decision 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 fresh east Europe and LRT English.
Benas Gerdžiūnas is simply a writer at the Lithuanian public broadcaster, LRT.
