EU – Baltic States, Law and Regulations, Lithuania, Markets and Companies

The amendments, submitted by opposition conservative MPs Laurynas Kasciunas, Zygimantas Pavilionis, Paulius Saudargas and Vytautas Kernagis, were supported by 66 parliamentarians, while three were against and five abstained.

"Currently, up to 30% of content rebroadcast in Lithuania is in the Russian language," said Kasciunas.

Under the amendments to the Law on Provision of Information to the Public, rebroadcast television content in official EU  languages should make at least 90% of the packages offered to users, with the exception of specialized (theme) packages offered for an additional fee.

The law suggests that television programs rebroadcast in non-European  languages  is equaled to a content rebroadcast or distributed online in the official language of the European Union, if translated into the official EU language or broadcast with subtitles in the language.

"This is our way of promoting the use of the official language and other official languages and reduce the dependence on the information from the Kremlin," Kasciunas said.

After analyzing the content on Lithuanian channels on March 6-12, the Lithuanian Commission for Radio and Television concluded that Russian-made production made 38% of the content on Lietuvos Ryto TV, including film and program previews. On BTV, Russian shows and films accounted for 35.5% of air time, taking over 7% on TV6 and about 2% on TV3 and TV8.