MEMBER INSIGHT

Intense pressure on public service in Lithuania

9 December 2025

Recently, political pressure on the Lithuanian public service company LRT has increased dramatically. Cilla Benkö and Gabriel Byström from Swedish Radio write an op-ed about a deeply troubling development.

This Insight was first published in Expressen. 

By Cilla Benkö, Vice President of the European Broadcasting Union and Director General of Swedish Radio, and Gabriel Byström, Chief of Staff of Swedish Radio. 

Today, Lithuanian journalists are demonstrating in front of the parliament in Vilnius. The reason is simple: they want the world to understand what is happening in our Baltic neighbouring country. These journalists want the world to react to the planned measures against the public service company LRT.

Read more: France Télévisions, SABC and LRT | On Our Radar

For many years, the country has held a very stable position high up on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, most recently ranked 14th. There has been a strong framework around public service, ensuring both political independence and solid finances.

Much of this is now at risk, which has prompted both local journalists and media freedom organisations across Europe to react strongly. Amongst other things, the government wants to change the rules regarding the CEO. The proposal, which has already been discussed in the Lithuanian parliament in a first round, is that a simple majority should be enough to dismiss the CEO of LRT. On top of that the vote would be secret. Currently, the vote is open and requires a qualified majority (at least eight out of twelve members) for dismissal. If the proposal passes, the distance between politics and journalism will shrink, increasing the risk of political appointments.

Through tougher political pressure, a shrinking budget, and increased pressure on the highest public service leadership, Lithuania now risks taking major steps away from one of the foundations that has made the country a stable liberal democracy: a free and independent public service.

The government has also decided to freeze LRT’s budget for the years 2026–2028, which risks leading to extensive cutbacks. A year ago, the government also decided to conduct an analysis of LRT’s independence to ensure the company truly meets impartiality requirements. The analysis has been criticized for unclear usage and vague parameters. The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has warned that such investigations risk creating self-censorship and threatening editorial independence.

Driving the changes regarding LRT has been the ruling party Nemuno Aušra, part of a patchwork coalition government together with, among others, the Social Democrats. The party, which has quickly gained significant traction, was founded as recently as 2023 and has been surrounded by rumors of links to Russian oligarchs. This summer, LRT published an investigation into this. Leading representatives have also repeatedly been accused of antisemitism; as recently as last week, party leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis was fined heavily for hate crimes against Jews by a Lithuanian court.

Public service plays a central role in times of increased disinformation and influence campaigns. Through tougher political pressure, a shrinking budget, and increased pressure on the highest public service leadership, Lithuania now risks taking major steps away from one of the foundations that has made the country a stable liberal democracy: a free and independent public service. This is deeply troubling.