Lithuanians report greater trust in courts and media

Public trust in Lithuania’s courts and media increased over the past month, according to a survey by Baltijos tyrimai commissioned by ELTA and reported by LRT. The Lithuanian Armed Forces and police remained the country’s most trusted institutions.

The survey, conducted at the end of July, found that 47 percent of respondents trusted the courts, up five percentage points from the end of June. The media was trusted by 50 percent, an increase of four percentage points.

The Lithuanian Armed Forces retained the highest level of public trust, at 75 percent. Police followed with 74 percent.

Other institutions with relatively high trust ratings were the Church, at 69 percent, Sodra, at 64 percent, and municipalities, at 62 percent. The presidential institution was trusted by 54 percent of respondents.

Trust in political institutions also increased during the month. The share of respondents who trusted the government rose by four percentage points, while trust in the Seimas increased by three percentage points. Both institutions remained at the bottom of the ranking, with the government trusted by 35 percent and the Seimas by 30 percent.

Ratings for the police, municipalities and the presidential institution each rose by three percentage points.

Overall, trust improved in seven of the 10 institutions included in the survey. No institution received a lower rating than the previous month.

Baltijos tyrimai conducted the survey from July 21 to 31 through face-to-face interviews with 1,002 Lithuanian residents aged 18 and over at 108 sampling points. The margin of error was up to 3.1 percentage points.