Three Lithuanian writers on Monday refused to accept a parliamentary award presented in the name of the speaker of the Seimas, citing concerns over the conduct of the ruling authorities.
Marius Burokas, Gytis Norvilas and Kotryna Zylė declined the Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė commemorative medal.
“We refused for an obvious reason: the behaviour of those in power, lies, pressure on LRT and everything else,” Burokas told LRT.lt.
The Serve Lithuania medal was established by the Seimas and is traditionally awarded by the speaker. Current Speaker Juozas Olekas did not attend the ceremony in Panevėžys, and was represented by Deputy Speaker Aušrinė Norkienė.
Zylė was selected for her philanthropic work, particularly in supporting youth self-expression, Burokas for promoting a culture of volunteerism in Lithuania, and Norvilas for socially engaged public writing fostering national identity and spiritual values.
Candidates are nominated by public institutions, organisations and community groups, and selected by a commission formed by the Seimas board. The medals are traditionally awarded annually on March 30, the birthday of Petkevičaitė-Bitė.
Olekas' party, the Social Democrats, has been criticised for staying in coalition with the populist Nemunas Dawn party. It's efforts to change the law in order to more easily dismiss the current management of the national public broadcaster, LRT, have been widely protested, especially by the cultural community.
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