LRT English Newsletter – November 28, 2025.
LRT is entering dangerous waters after the Nemunas Dawn populist leader vowed to tackle the public broadcaster. We don’t want to repeat ourselves, so we’ve prepared an explainer on what European and local media watchdogs are calling worrying signs of politicians attempting to take control of the public broadcaster.
In short – if the changes are passed, representatives at the LRT Council could easily fire the leadership of the public broadcaster. As critics say, this would open a Pandora's box for successive politicians in power to keep appointing their preferred head to run the country’s biggest media organisation.
Here’s a chronology of events prepared by the director general of LRT, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė.
On Thursday, the parliament froze LRT’s funding until 2029 and gave the initial backing to allowing the easier dismissal of the director general.
The bill will now move to the parliamentary Committee for Culture, before being put back to the Seimas on December 11. The parliament also rejected proposals to first vet the bill if it did not run counter to the constitution.
FLYING BALLOONS, GROUNDED PLANES
So that happened – a plane skidded off the runway in Vilnius Airport on Wednesday afternoon, forcing it to shut down operations for the rest of the day. Not that it mattered much, as the airport would have likely had to close anyway due to another salvo of smuggling balloons. Lithuania is now seeking for the EU to add “hybrid attack” as a reason for sanctions, which previously did not exist. No one was injured in the plane incident, with the investigation reportedly to take at least a year.
US TROOPS IN BALTICS
New facilities were unveiled for US troops stationed in Lithuania, with Vilnius officials doing everything they can to keep the American troops in the Baltics. So far, there’s no bad news, they say.
RUSSIAN SABOTAGE SENTENCING
A first for Lithuania – it has sentenced a man for “an act of terrorism” when he set an IKEA store in Vilnius on fire on behalf of Russian intelligence. He received a shortened sentence of three years and four months. Now, the IKEA fire wasn’t the only thing. He was arrested on his way to Latvia for more arson attacks and he may have been involved in similar incidents in Poland.
CHINA TIES
Although the new Lithuanian government was keen on normalising ties with China, so far there’s been little progress. Relations ruptured back in 2021 when Lithuania opened a Taiwanese representation in Vilnius using the name “Taiwanese”, not “Taipei”. The spat has spiralled on since. Lithuanian officials acknowledge that this may remain the core of the dispute, but backing down now would send mixed messages about the country’s much-lauded “values-based foreign policy”, to say the least.
ECONOMY UPDATES:
– The parliament has banned private healthcare institutions from charging patients extra for state-funded services.
– One in ten workers in Lithuania is now a migrant.
– Poland’s Orlen has terminated the 1-billion-euro contract for modernising the Mažeikiai refinery in northern Lithuania. The government hopes they will still do the work.
– Is earning €1,128 a month enough to make you middle-class?
MANDATORY LITHUANIAN
Service sector workers will now be required to speak Lithuanian at an A1-level proficiency. Authorities estimate that some 94,000 people could be affected by the changes. The requirement will apply to foreign nationals declaring residency in Lithuania and to seasonal workers who serve customers.
EDITOR’S PICKS:
– After the EU court ruled that member states must recognise same-sex marriages contracted in other EU countries, Lithuania’s Justice Ministry says it does not mean the country is forced to pass its own legislation.
– The discussion of what to do with the Sports and Culture Palace has been rekindled.
– The president would like to help us have more children.
– So the big, scary snowstorm warning was a dud.
– And check out the Kaunas Christmas tree (this concludes your weekly dose of good news).
Written by Benas Gerdžiūnas
Edited by Justinas Šuliokas
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