Taminskas forms group to improve access to printed press

Lithuanian Transport Minister Juras Taminskas has formed an interinstitutional working group to improve residents’ access to newspapers and magazines, LRT reported.

The group will examine concerns about public messaging by the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT). Taminskas said the authority’s comments on rising delivery costs and the burden they place on the state could weaken public information resilience and conflict with national security interests.

“Do the RRT’s actions violate the European Media Freedom Act, weaken public information resilience or run counter to Lithuania’s national security interests?” Taminskas wrote on Facebook on Monday. He said the questions arose after appeals from the National Press Association and the National Association of Regional and City Newspaper Publishers.

In September, the RRT said the cost to the state of delivering printed publications was rising while the number of subscriptions continued to fall. The authority said the compensation requested by Lietuvos paštas, Lithuania’s postal service, for loss-making delivery of periodicals reached 10.6 million euros for 2025. Over the past decade, the number of newspapers and magazines delivered had almost halved, while delivery losses had risen 2.2 times, it said.

Taminskas said the authority’s actions risked reducing access to newspapers in regions and rural areas. He added that media representatives would be included in the working group.