VILNIUS, October 7. /TASS/. Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday refused to consider President Dalia Grybauskaite’s initiative to cut broadcasting in the Russian language by two thirds to ensure that at least 90% of re-broadcasted television programmes are in the official languages of the European Union.
According to opponents of the presidential initiative, this move when realized will actually mean introduction of censorship and will violate the right to free information distribution. “It seems that we look upon our citizens as people who have no critical faculty and cannot tell a lie from the truth,” lawmaker Birute Vesaite said. Moreover, such measure are pointless in the ear of the internet and satellite television, opponents say.
Russian television channels are not re-broadcasted on national television in Lithuania. They are available in cable networks. The prohibitive amendments targeted these cable networks and those who have access to satellite television.