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Dunja Mijatovic and Linas Linkevicius. Vilnius, 2.02.2016. Photo: urm.lt

In her words, the media contents should be assessed not only in terms of the freedom of speech but also in terms of criminal responsibility.

Following her meeting with Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius, the outgoing OSCE representative on freedom of the media told journalists that countries themselves should decide on ways to fight propaganda but do that in compliance with international standards.

Mijatovic previously criticized Lithuania's decisions to introduce restrictions for Russian-language TV channels.

"I come from the Balkans, from the part of the world, former Yugoslavia, that experienced really the worst possible propaganda that was inciting riots, killings, war, injecting hatred among people, producing division among people, and still my answer is that as democracies we should be acting only in a democratic manner. Of course there are issues – and this is red line as I call it – when you have broadcasters or journalist calling for killings and incitement of hatred – that is nothing to do with the free speech. This needs to be prosecuted and it needs to be treated as completely outside the freedom of speech and the freedom of the media," Mijatovic said.

Nevertheless, the OSCE representative says, first of all, fight against propaganda must involve education and not bans.

"Blocking or stopping certain views that we disagree with is not something that I would like to see in any democracy. I have followed Lithuania and particularly the Baltic states in relation to the problem of propaganda, and there are ups and downs, there's a moment when I have to raise my voice and there are moments when I also use the Baltic states as an example how things should be done in relation to this," she sad.

While in Vilnius, the OSCE representative is also presenting a recently-issued document on propaganda and the media freedom.