Press release, 22 September 2015

The Seimas sustained a veto by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, and adopted the amendments to the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public (Draft No XIIP-2871 GR) together with all the amendments suggested by the country leader, following the repeated submission to the Seimas. The draft Law with all the President’s amendments received 79 votes in favour, 3 against and 26 abstentions.

The earlier amendments of 23 June 2015 should have lifted restrictions for political parties to be public information producers and/or participants as of next year. The Chief Adviser to the President, Rasa Svetikaitė, had previously said that the Law was vetoed because it could have jeopardised a safeguard against control of the media by political parties, which was in force for almost 20 years. The Chief Adviser noted that in order to retain and strengthen the constitutional guarantees for the protection of media freedom, ensure proper provision of information to the public and prevent the politicisation of the media, restrictions for political parties should remain in place.

Based on the President’s amendments adopted by the Seimas, the following subjects may not be producers and/or participants of public information: state institutions and agencies (except for research and higher education institutions and educational establishments) as well as legal persons whose founder, partner or shareholder is the state, its institution or agency; municipal institutions and agencies (except for research and higher education institutions and educational establishments) as well as legal persons whose founder, partner or shareholder is the municipality, its institution or agency; banks and the legal entities established and/or governed by them; and political parties.

These subjects may publish non-periodical informational publications and have the information society media intended to inform the public of their activities.

The state and municipal research and higher education institutions and educational establishments may use their media to inform society and the public information they transmit only in as much as it is related to the research, academic and educational activities.

Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas,

tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]