Three Lithuanian journalists have been barred from moderating a high-level conference due to their criticism of the president.
Rimvydas Valatka, Rita Miliūtė, and Vytautas Buveris had been invited by the organisers to moderate the Lublin Four conference at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, which involved scholars from Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus.
But the journalists were not welcome at the Presidential Palace, the president’s office informed. Previously, they had expressed harsh criticism of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Valatka said during a roundtable discussion hosted by LRT RADIO that such a decision did not fit under any legal boundaries and interference by the president’s office constituted a breach of freedom and democracy.
However, Sergejus Muravjovas, head of the Transparency International in Lithuania, said that journalists must adhere to ethical standards when discussing politics.
“For many years, the conversation about the media and the relationship between journalists and politicians has been a taboo in Lithuania,” Muravjovas said. “When talking to the politicians, the media representatives must adhere to certain ethical standards.”
Valatka, however, said that the journalistic ethics was not an issue because politicians were the ones who refused to engage with the journalists that criticised them.
“If a journalist is kicked out of the Presidential Palace just because he has a critical opinion about the president, what kind of journalistic ethics are we talking about? We must talk about the politicians’ ethics,” the journalist said.
The Presidential Palace was also one of the organisers of the Lublin Four conference. Nausėda’s spokesman Antanas Bubnelis said that the president’s office suggested candidates for moderators of the discussion.
“As with many other events in the Presidential Palace, the president’s advisers work with the event organisers and discuss content, speakers, presenters, and moderators,” Bubnelis said in a written comment to LRT.lt.
“Similarly, this time, several candidates were considered as speakers and discussion moderators. President’s office representatives made their suggestions,” he added.
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