LRT English Newsletter – April 10, 2026.
We hit the streets again this week, and our message is loud and clear: hands off our free speech.
Echoing the energy of previous demonstrations, this Wednesday’s rally drew over 10,000 protesters into the streets. The crowd was joined by an exiled Hungarian journalist, alongside a lineup of comedians, artists, and activists who pulled no punches: sharp words and more than a few middle fingers were aimed squarely at parliament.
The message, it turns out, was noted. Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas said the governing coalition would not back down, adding that they were willing to talk to those willing to talk – "not those who crookedly show the middle finger."
Here's a quick explainer on where things stand with the proposed changes to Lithuania's public broadcaster. In essence, a parliamentary working group, dominated by the governing coalition, has put forward a sweeping set of amendments that go well beyond the initial trigger: making it easier to fire the LRT director general. Critics say the new proposals show signs of censorship and would increase political control over the LRT Council and thus the broadcaster itself.
Social Democrat leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius had previously said individual amendments to the bill could be discussed, but rejected calls to scrap the bill altogether. The amendments are expected to go to a full parliament vote before the end of the spring session.
TROUBLE ON TRAINING GROUNDS?
The Kapčiamiestis military training ground, continues to stress-test the ruling coalition.
The Seimas approved it at first reading in late March but only thanks to opposition votes, because all 10 votes against the bill came from within the ruling coalition itself: seven from Nemunas Dawn, including party leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis, and three from the Farmers, Greens and Christian Families Union.
Social Democrat leader Sinkevičius called this unacceptable, noting the coalition had a formal written agreement to support the project. Things got messier when the leader of the Farmers' parliamentary group suggested Nemunas Dawn may have been trying to leverage their support for Kapčiamiestis to advance other legislative priorities, such as amendments on cash payments (the kind that filled the party’s coffers). Žemaitaitis flatly denied it.
Despite this, the coalition, for now, holds. Sinkevičius admitted the partnership is taking a reputational toll, and promised an internal review later this month. The bill, meanwhile, cleared the parliamentary defence committee on Wednesday and returns to plenary next Tuesday.
MORE ON DEFENCE
– With NATO looking shakier by the week, rattled by old ghosts and new disputes alike, Lithuania's parliamentary opposition is seeking strength from within. The idea is to turn the country into a hedgehog – too uncomfortable and difficult for even a Russian bear to overcome. Insisting that the current defence vision is too bureaucratic and narrow, their alternative plan sets society-wide total defence as its central pillar. In practice, that means speeding up the transition to universal conscription and closely integrating the paramilitary Riflemen's Union into defence planning – the very same organisation whose members don't wait for a war to start before signing up even abroad.
– Also quietly in the works: Lithuania is relocating its emergency stockpiles of food, fuel and other goods away from the Belarusian border, with the move due to be completed by 2027.
– Lithuania's government approved a defence attaché post at its embassy in Israel this week – 350,000 euros a year to learn from a country currently facing mounting international accusations of war crimes in Gaza and, more recently, Lebanon. The goal: deeper insight into Israel's total defence, societal resilience, crisis management and mobilisation expertise.
A LOOMING FINANCIAL CRISIS?
The man who saw the 2008 financial crisis coming before most people had even heard the word "subprime" is sounding the alarm again. Richard Bookstabe argues that the greatest danger now lies in the financial system's links to the physical world – warning that shocks propagate through it in ways that are hard to anticipate, and that by the time warning signs appear in market data, the damage is already done. Iran sits near the top of his list of pressure points.
Lithuania is already feeling it. The war in the Middle East has driven up energy prices, raised inflation fears and clouded growth forecasts. Local economists ruled out the Mad Max scenario, but warned that Lithuania should keep diversifying its energy sources – a lesson, they noted, the country has learned before. In the meantime, the government has temporarily cut excise duty on diesel and is close to introducing daily fuel price caps to cushion consumers from the worst of the spikes.
MIGRATION AND FOREIGNERS
– Vilnius Mayor Benkunskas and Interior Minister Kondratovičius are at odds over language requirements for foreign residents. The mayor wants mandatory Lithuanian proficiency for temporary residence permit holders, warning that without legal incentives to integrate, security risks and social tensions will grow. The minister says that's not solely his ministry's problem. With 189,000 people on temporary permits, someone will eventually have to decide whose problem it actually is.
– "Russians live in fear," warns Mikhail Benyash – a prominent Russian human rights lawyer on a humanitarian visa who had his residence permit revoked after travelling to Minsk twice, three weeks apart, to see his seven-year-old son. Lithuania's Supreme Administrative Court ultimately sided with him, but the case laid bare what he describes as a climate of fear among Russians in Lithuania: a law bent to political passion rather than reason, he warns, is a path he left Russia to escape.
EDITOR’S PICKS
– A Nemunas Dawn-appointed deputy health minister couldn't (at first) bring himself to say Crimea belongs to Ukraine when asked in a live interview – so his minister is sending him to Ukraine for self-reflection.
– Have you heard of an abandoned rural outpost now growing so quickly that digital maps can't keep up with its expanding waterways?
– Learn what the Japanese think of our genius painter-composer.
– Ever wondered what it takes to make a good plov? A Kazakh chef is coming to the rescue.
– How did Lithuania develop a taste for German cars?
– A new Lithuanian novel rescues the Polish queen and Lithuanian duchess Anna Jagiellon from the margins of history.
Written by Austė Sargytė
Edited by Benas Gerdžiūnas
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