Lithuania extended a ban on the broadcasting and retransmission of radio and television programmes from Russian and Belarusian broadcasters, without an initial limit to the restriction, after lawmakers agreed on the step on Thursday.
The ban applies as long as Russia and its close ally Belarus are considered a danger and threat to the security of the Baltic EU and NATO country in the national security strategy, parliament agreed almost unanimously, in an amendment to a law.
Lithuania, which shares borders with Russian exclave Kaliningrad and Belarus, a close ally of Russia, is also home to a minority of people with Russian origins, who make up a good 5% of its 2.8 million inhabitants.
Lithuania stopped broadcasting all channels registered in Russia and Belarus after Moscow's forces launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as did Estonia and Latvia, in a bid to prevent the dissemination of Russian war propaganda and disinformation.
Other EU countries have also banned Russian media outlets as Moscow pursues a hybrid strategy in the conflict, spreading disinformation through state-sponsored and pro-Kremlin outlets.