Lithuania drops to 15th in press freedom index, ranks 24th for political pressure

Lithuania has fallen to 15th place in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with its sharpest decline seen in political pressure on media, where it ranks 24th, LRT.lt reports.

A spokesperson for RSF told LRT.lt that Lithuania’s government appears more concerned with its party’s interests than with safeguarding press freedom. The country’s drop is largely attributed to political attacks on public broadcaster LRT and the freezing of its budget.

For the first time in the index’s 25-year history, more than half of the 180 ranked countries are classified as having a “difficult” or “very serious” press freedom situation. The global average score has never been lower, with an increasing number of laws undermining the right to information, even in democracies.

Norway, the Netherlands, and Estonia lead the rankings, followed by Denmark and Sweden. Lithuania sits at 15th, with Latvia at 17th. Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and North Korea occupy the bottom five, with Eritrea ranked last.

RSF notes that while journalists are still being killed and imprisoned, tactics suppressing press freedom are evolving. Hostile political rhetoric, economic struggles in media, and restrictive laws are weakening journalism worldwide. Ongoing conflicts—particularly in Palestine, where over 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023—have further eroded press freedom.

Lithuania’s overall ranking fell one place from 14th in 2025 and two places from 13th in 2024. While the country benefits from a relatively safe environment for journalists and public support for media independence, RSF highlights growing challenges in political and economic spheres. The most significant decline stems from political pressure, where Lithuania would rank 24th if evaluated solely on that criterion.

RSF places Lithuania alongside Hungary and Slovakia as EU members where national laws frequently violate the European Media Freedom Act, which guarantees editorial independence—particularly for public service media.