Lithuanian parliament speaker submits comments on LRT reforms without committee oversight

The speaker of Lithuania’s parliament submitted comments to the Venice Commission regarding proposed amendments to the law governing public broadcaster LRT, but the Culture Committee—currently reviewing the draft—was not shown the response, BNS reported on Wednesday.

Committee chair Kęstutis Vilkauskas confirmed that while members had discussed and supported various amendments to the bill, they had not seen the official reply sent to the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional law. The commission had requested Lithuania’s feedback by Monday on its preliminary conclusions about the reforms, which concern LRT’s governance structure.

During the committee meeting, several members questioned who had prepared and submitted the comments. Conservative lawmaker Daiva Ulbinaitė criticised the lack of transparency, stating: “We don’t even know what was answered, or whether it was answered correctly—whether this is the speaker’s interpretation or someone else’s. Important matters are being ignored.”

Democrat Rima Baškienė added that committee members should have been informed before the Monday deadline, asking: “Maybe you don’t value me or think I don’t know what’s going on, but if an answer had to be submitted by 10 AM on Monday, the committee should at least have been aware of it.”

The Venice Commission’s interest in the LRT law stems from late 2025, when parliament initially moved to ease dismissal procedures for the broadcaster’s director-general, a change critics—including journalists, cultural figures, and civil society groups—warned could threaten press freedom. Mass protests followed, prompting the formation of a working group led by Speaker Juozas Olekas to draft a new version of the law.

That revised bill, now under committee review, retains a key provision requiring a two-thirds vote in LRT’s governing council to dismiss the director-general before their term ends—the same threshold as currently in force. The Venice Commission has endorsed this approach but recommended clarifying the grounds for dismissal and allowing the council to choose between open or secret ballots (current law mandates open votes only).

LRT’s current director-general, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, has previously stated that even the amended proposal targets her personally. Under the draft law, most governance changes would take effect in later years, but the new dismissal rules would apply immediately.

On Wednesday, despite earlier pledges to await the Venice Commission’s formal opinion, the ruling majority voted to continue deliberations without it. Opposition lawmakers had urged waiting for the commission’s final assessment.