“The protest will last no more than an hour (from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.). You can express your civic engagement during your lunch break“. An unusual invitation, one that we, as Italians, are certainly not used to. An invitation that called on the entire citizenry to express support for the protest organized by journalists from the Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT, with the support of the cultural community. Over ten thousand people (according to police data) responded and on December 9th, they showed up at 12:00 p.m. in Independence Square in Vilnius, right next to the Lithuanian Parliament. An immense human wave, composed and determined to defend the principles and values of a young Republic that regained independence in 1990, after nearly fifty years of Soviet occupation.
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A crowd of aware citizens
Following the attack on the cultural community with the appointment of a Minister of Culture from the populist, anti-Semitic, pro-Russian, and homophobic Nemunas Aušra party (read the full story), the same party has presented a series of proposals intended to legitimize the dismissal of the director of the public broadcaster LRT without any real justification and with a lower number of voters in favor than under current rules: from 8 to 6 out of a total of 12 members of the LRT Council. Furthermore, Nemunas Aušra has called for a significant budget cut for the broadcaster, which journalists and experts say would create management difficulties.
These proposals, according to journalists and experts, risk undermining the right to information and freedom of expression in a democratic state. The concern is that politicians are aiming to seize control of public radio and television. They want to silence freedom of speech, starting with LRT and then extending their control to all media outlets.
This is what has happened in other countries. In Poland and Slovakia, but also in Georgia (Sakartvelo). The Polish Journalists’ Society has sent its support to the Lithuanian demonstration. Slovak and Georgian representatives have expressed concern about what is happening in Lithuania. “It started like this in our country too”, they say.
“We fought for freedom, we will not back down”
Thirty-five years have passed since March 1990, when Lithuania declared its independence and began a long process of rebuilding its democratic state. From that date until August 1993, when the last Soviet soldiers still on Lithuanian soil departed, the country had to resist attacks from the Soviet Union, which had no intention of recognizing the Baltic country’s independence.
In January 1991, Gorbachev, then leader of the USSR, sent special forces and tanks to restore Soviet “order”. On January 13th, the attack on the television tower and the national broadcaster: LRT, yesterday as today.
Citizens organized a peaceful defense of the television tower and Parliament. Unarmed citizens against tanks. The attack resulted in fourteen deaths and numerous injuries. But the Lithuanians did not surrender (read the full story) and defended Parliament to the end. The desire for freedom and independence after decades of brutal occupation and deportations to the gulags was too strong against a Soviet Union now on the brink of collapse.
Citizens of yesterday and new generations
At the mass rally held in Vilnius, many people experienced the tragic moments of 1991. They were joined by many young people born in independent Lithuania who had never lived under occupation, but knew the stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Many of them were deported to Siberia.
One protester held a sign that read: “We stood against tanks in 1991, now we stand against control over media”.
The protest was directed not only at the leader of the Nemunas Aušra party, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, but also at President Gitanas Nausėda, whom many consider too weak to defend the attacks on freedom and the values of the Constitution.
Much criticism was also directed at the Social Democratic Party, the coalition’s majority party, which, according to many citizens and political experts, is showing a serious lack of leadership.
Journalists and singers took turns on the stage, including Andrius Mamontovas, who with the song “Wake Up” urged the President to “wake up” and stand up to defend freedom of expression and the freedom of the media.
The crowd was filled with emotion when Eglė Bucėlytė, a journalist with nearly forty years of experience for LRT, took the stage. In January 1991, she remained on air until the last second. Until Soviet special forces broke down the door of the television studio where she and other colleagues had barricaded themselves, and shut down the broadcast.
A shared protest
The rally was the culmination of a series of protests organized by LRT employees during television programs. Minutes of silence, real lessons in democracy given by professors and historians, and programs recounting what happened in countries where a free press has been silenced by politicians.
The large crowd that participated in the protest is a powerful testimony to a vigilant civil society aware that freedom cannot be taken for granted. Now the government has its say. Will it listen to the citizens’ voices?
Meanwhile, in Brussels, European Union representatives have expressed concern about what is happening in Lithuania. As a member of the EU, Lithuania has signed up to the European Media Freedom Act. A few days ago, the partner organizations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) stated: “…The proposed changes to the law governing the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT risk weakening its editorial independence and disrupting its sustainable funding”.
CEE public broadcasters have addressed an open letter to the Lithuanian parliament, warning that “such changes contradict the safeguards established under the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which requires that appointment and dismissal procedures for public service media leadership guarantee independence and include clear protections against undue influence”.