JAV Authoritarian regimes are certainly happy about President Donald Trump's decision to cut off funding to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Gintarė Žukaitė-Zelenkienė, head of RFE/RL's Vilnius office, told Elta. According to her, although the activities of these radio stations have not been suspended in any of the offices yet, it is only a matter of time before they can continue.
Elta's interviewee also emphasizes that the media outlet's management is actively looking for alternative sources of funding and says that they are confident that, in the best-case scenario, funding will still be secured.
Looking for alternative sources of financing
G. Žukaitė-Zelenkienė recalls that on March 15, RFE/RL headquarters in Washington and Prague received a letter stating that funding for all branches of the media outlet in various countries around the world, including the Vilnius office, was being suspended.
However, according to her, radio operations are not currently suspended in any office.
"Currently, all journalists in Vilnius are still working, the only question is how long they will be able to do so," says the head of the radio bureau in Vilnius.
G. Žukaitė-Zelenkienė also points out that the media management is currently looking for all possible ways to obtain support and continue RFE/RL's activities.
"We are looking for a wide variety of funding sources. A few days ago, the Czech Foreign Minister appealed to the European Union (EU) institutions to find ways to help RFE/RL. We are very grateful to the Czech Government for such an initiative and to the Lithuanian Government, which immediately supported such a proposal," she says.
"The European Union itself is also looking for opportunities to support RFE/RL. No specific decisions have been made yet, as the EU needs to review all options. However, we hope and await positive decisions," adds the head of RFE/RL's Vilnius bureau.
G. Žukaitė-Zelenkienė also points out that RFE/RL management has sued the United States Agency for Global Media over the suspension of funding.
Authoritarian regimes are certainly happy with this decision.
G. Žukaitė-Zelenkienė also emphasizes that RFE/RL has been operating for more than 75 years.
"This is a media outlet whose goal was to reach those people who lived behind the Iron Curtain. Later, after it collapsed, residents of countries where freedom of speech and media are still not established. This organization has always carried free speech, uncensored, verified information. It is considered one of the leaders of independent media," says Elta's interlocutor.
According to her, such a suspension of funding means that a large market share – a share of readers – is lost and could later be used by propaganda from Russia, Belarus, China and other authoritarian regimes.
"In principle, with such a decision - the suspension of funding - we harm ourselves, free media and freedom of speech. Authoritarian regimes are certainly happy about it," concludes G. Žukaitė-Zelenkienė.
Journalists from Belarus work in the RFE/RL Vilnius bureau
RFE/RL is described as an independent media outlet that has been funded by grants from the US Congress through the US Agency for Global Media.
RFE/RL's mission is to disseminate reliable news and information to more than 37 million people in 27 languages in 23 countries where media freedom is restricted and professional media are not fully established.
G. Žukaitė-Zelenkienė notes that the Lithuanian branch of RFE/RL employs journalists who were forced to leave Belarus. The Minsk office was searched, closed, and the website was blocked. In December 2021, RFE/RL was declared an “extremist organization” in Belarus, the distribution and consumption of whose news became a criminal offense.
"In Belarus, journalists from Radio Svoboda could no longer work because they were threatened with imprisonment. They came to Lithuania - our country's government offered them asylum, the opportunity to work and continue to disseminate information in Belarus," she explains.
"Currently, 20 Belarusian journalists work in the RFE/RL Vilnius office, preparing information mainly in Belarusian, some information is also prepared in Russian, but our focus is Belarus," adds Elta's interlocutor.
Former Estonian President: Trump's decision was driven by several reasons
Former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who headed RFE/RL's Estonian bureau from 1984 to 1993, tells Spanish news portal El Confidencial that RFE/RL was a major source of information for those who couldn't find it anywhere else, but according to TH Ilves, that's no longer the case.
The official reason given for the US president's suspension of RFE/RL's funding is financial, but El Confidencial's interlocutor questions it, emphasizing that the decision was driven by more than one factor.
"It's one of the cheapest projects. What is RFE/RL's budget? $200-250 million a year? That's basically the cost of one fighter jet," he says.
"One of the reasons for stopping funding for RFE/RL is that they don't want to offend Vladimir Putin. They don't want to offend Viktor Orban. Russia's main propaganda channel, Russia Today, tweeted that this is the best day of their lives because there will be no more RFE/RL. (…). So, they want to live with Viktor Orban and they want to be nice to Vladimir Putin," adds TH Ilves.
He also emphasizes that the issue of RFE/RL's funding should not be left solely in the hands of the Czechs.
"I think the EU should step in. I mean, if U. Von der Leyen has allocated 800 billion euros for defense. What is only 200 million euros for Europe," he muses.
ELTA reminds that on March 15, US President D. Trump suspended funding for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, located in the Czech capital Prague, which could be threatened with closure as a result.
Trump has ordered the US Global Media Agency, which oversees all publicly funded US broadcasting programs abroad that are not run by the military, to drastically cut funding. On March 15, he also cut funding for Voice of America.
RFE/RL director Stephen Capus criticized the decision, calling it “a huge gift to America’s enemies.” He said Iranian ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats would be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the radio station in Moscow and Minsk. of the station closure.
S. Capus noted that the radio the station previously supported by both Republicans and Democrats.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky also said that RFE/RL and Voice of America are just a few free sources of information for people living under oppression, from Belarus and Russia to Iran and Afghanistan.
The content was prepared by the ELTA news agency, which participates in the European initiative PULSAS, which supports international cooperation between journalists. Lola García-Ajofrín, a journalist for the Spanish news portal El Confidencial, contributed to the article.
Justė Ancevičiūtė (ELTA)
