LRT English Newsletter – December 19, 2025.
Protests over media freedom are continuing, with thousands of people attending rallies this week outside the country’s parliament in Vilnius.
We’ve prepared an explainer (here) and a short video explaining why a cat could be responsible for the news you see on LRT.
There were also some updates over the past day.
– The president and prime minister backed calls for the LRT Council to resign.
– Due to health reasons, the committee on culture that had to go through all the disruptive amendments felt sick. The process had to be postponed.
However, none of the politicians echoed the core demand for politicians to back away from the reforms, with lawmakers stating that they will continue nonetheless.
BELARUSIANS AND FERTILISERS
Over 100 Belarusians were released and then put on buses to Lithuania and Ukraine last weekend, with several dozen of them ending up in Vilnius. Among those released were also two Lithuanian nationals, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ales Bialiatski.
Now, with the release of the prisoners came also a hook – the US agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertiliser, a cash-cow for the regime. And guess where most of those exports go through – Lithuania.
There were immediate discussions in the public about whether the export transit via the country could be eased, or whether Vilnius (and the EU) could fall under pressure from Washington. A presidential adviser even linked it to the continued presence of US troops in Lithuania. However, he backtracked from his words the following day.
RECORD BRIBERY BUST
There was an impressive bribery bust at the state plant supervisory agency, with officers seizing explosives, gold, cash, and cocaine. Read more here.
FEGDA CONTROVERSY
Fegda, a firm with links to the Social Democratic Party, won a tender to build military infrastructure worth 348.35 million euros. It later emerged that the Defence Ministry had ignored warnings from the intelligence service, the State Security Department (VSD), about the company.
BALLOON UPDATE
No balloons this week, but there was an operation targeting the smuggling criminal networks. Meanwhile, Lithuania’s parliament postponed a resolution condemning Minsk for the balloon attack, with the foreign minister saying he hoped Minsk would act upon its pledge to Washington to stop the balloons.
EDITOR’S PICKS:
– Foreign nationals working in Lithuania’s service sector will be required to demonstrate basic Lithuanian-language skills starting in January, but officials say employers will not face penalties for at least six months.
– Lithuania’s decision to join the Tribunal’s management framework is not a symbolic gesture, writes Volodymyr Pylypenko, Lithuania’s Honorary Consul in Ukraine.
– “I believe this is the role of music – to create spaces where people can recognise one another’s humanity,” said Kadim Mazin, an Iraqi-born musician and oud player who has lived in Vilnius for four years.
– Lithuanian fuel network Jozita and Russian-backed company Gazimpeks allegedly exported thousands of tons of Russian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Ukraine.
– About 10,000 farmers from Lithuania and other European Union countries rallied in Brussels on Thursday to protest the European Commission’s plans to cut funding for agriculture after 2027.
– And have a look at some Christmas trees.
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