The biggest cuts in the upcoming budget are set to target the Media Support Fund and to the National Museum, whose head was one of the protest leaders against the decision to hand the Culture Ministry to the populists.
Opposition politicians suggest this may be retaliation against the cultural community and the media for their protests.
“Freedom of expression has become a systematic target for this coalition,” says Mindaugas Lingė, deputy head of the Conservative (TS-LKD) group in parliament.
“Why is the cultural sector, which took a stand, now receiving such a blow, a vindictive stab in the back? It really raises questions, and the optics are not good,” Lingė adds.
Further reading
The budget is also being cut for the Media Support Fund, which keeps most of the cultural and regional press afloat.
“For regional and [non-Lithuanian] language media in particular, it would be very difficult if the funding were reduced. We asked and argued that it should not be cut and that, if possible, the budget should even be increased,” says Vaiva Žukienė, chair of the Media Support Fund Council.
“I would simply not want this to be revenge, because that would be extremely unwise,” Žukienė adds.
The finance minister denies any suggestion of retaliation, saying the money was redistributed after appropriations were reduced as part of cost-cutting measures.
“If there were decreases, they are linked to the 5% savings target agreed by all ministries. How the Culture Ministry chose to allocate and save that money internally is its own decision. There is certainly no element of revenge here,” says Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekūnas.
In the budget, the Culture Ministry’s overall budget will see an increase of 1.5 million euros. The finance minister says the cultural sector as a whole is receiving more funds because the LRT budget has been frozen.
“It is increasing now because LRT funding was reduced. And the promise was that the money saved would go to the Culture Ministry – so it is being directed to the cultural sector, not the ministry itself,” he says.
The chair of the parliamentary Culture Committee also says he understands the situation is difficult and that the fund is important, but he doubts the budget will change.
“Having reviewed the budget, there will be no significant increase, but we need to think about the future,” says Kęstutis Vilkauskas, chair of the committee.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
