The Lithuanian parliament is debating a proposal that would make it easier for the council of Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) to dismiss the broadcaster's director general. Recently, parliament also froze LRT's budget for three years. In response, LRT staff launched a weeklong protest against the government's actions.

According to Erik Roose, board chair of Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR), political pressure on public media is currently stronger in Lithuania than in Estonia.

"The situation is the same or perhaps even more acute than in Estonia where the executive branch is eager to dictate how public broadcasting should be run, who should lead it, how it should be led and what it should think altogether. This isn't something unprecedented in recent weeks — also in Estonia, strong opinions have been expressed at the government level about our leadership and how we're managed. Unfortunately, the situation is similar," Roose said.

At the same time, he emphasized that developments in Lithuania are more aggressive, as they involve concrete efforts to change the law — freezing the public broadcaster's budget and restructuring its leadership model.

"It's worth noting — if only we had those kinds of problems — their budget is basically twice the size of ours. We're working with €40 million and some change, they have €80 million and they want to freeze that for the next three years," he added.

On the issue of governance, Roose explained that Lithuania's coalition government, which includes the Social Democrats and the far-right Dawn of Nemunas, wants to alter how LRT's executives are appointed and removed. Under the proposed changes, becoming director general or deputy chair would require a simple majority — seven of the council's 12 votes — while removal would need only six votes.

"According to executives I've spoken to, this isn't just theoretical — they genuinely intend to replace the management and take over operations themselves," said Roose. "Because this sparked major protests, the prime minister reportedly concluded that six votes may be too few and the plan now is likely to set the threshold at seven votes, instead of the current two-thirds majority."

He noted that the move to bring public broadcasting under tighter executive control has triggered significant protests not only across Lithuanian society but also among journalists, including those in private media, not just public broadcasters.

Public service media independence mandated by EU regulations

The independence of public broadcasting funding in Europe is supposed to be safeguarded by the European Media Freedom Act, which stipulates that such funding must be free from political influence.

"We've had the same situation here for years," said Roose. "Amendments to the Estonian Public Broadcasting Act are in the works and those efforts gained additional momentum from the European Media Freedom Act, which was adopted last year and fully entered into force this year. It's a pan-European regulation and directly applicable. But the European Union is a fairly soft organization — nothing changes overnight."

He added that governments that are more sensitive to press freedom tend to take criticism particularly hard. "For some reason, certain politicians seem to take it more personally than others. Everyone can decide for themselves where that line is, but it tends to be the case that some politicians don't try to change themselves — they try to change who's talking about them and how," Roose said.

Problems with media freedom in several EU members

Roose noted that concerns about the independence of public media are not limited to Lithuania or Estonia — they affect other European countries as well.

"Although the European Union moves slowly, at some point this likely won't end well. In countries like Hungary or Slovakia, the situation is even more complicated. In the end, or in the next elections, viewers won't just vote with their remotes, but also at the ballot box. I have a feeling — maybe it's too optimistic — that voters will eventually have something to say about it," Roose said.

He observed that political influence over Lithuania's public broadcaster is significantly greater than at ERR, as some council members there are appointed by the president and other institutions, including the church.

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