Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas suggests “not to be so sensitive” about the Donald Trump administration’s decision to freeze the operation of the Voice of America and several other US-funded broadcasters.
“Yes, the US administration is dealing with overspending and is trying to cut the budget deficit and sometimes in the course of those cuts too much is cut and then things need to be stitched back on again,” Paluckas told reporters on Monday after his meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda.
“Remember the USAID program when it was closed down entirely and then some of it was brought back. We don’t know how much more will come back,” he added.
“Therefore, I would suggest not to be so sensitive, but to wait and see what the result will be,” the prime minister said.
Over the weekend, hundreds of reporters and other staff at VOA, Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free Europe (RFE) and other media outlets received emails telling them that they would be barred from their offices and that they would have to surrender their press passes, office phones, and other equipment as the US government was withdrawing their funding.
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