FOI-R--3990--SE_reducerad

FOI-R--3990--SE
June 2014. 408 Thus, civil organizations formed by regular Lithuanians for decent,
“normal” causes – such as environmental protection – are used by Russian
companies for the interests of the latter.
5.4 The Russian Media Presence and its
Activities in the Lithuanian Information
Space
The popularity of the Russian language, positive attitude to Russian culture and
symbols, and widespread nostalgia for the Soviet era create a highly favourable
environment for the Russian media in Lithuania. 409 The State Security
Department has warned about the potential for aggressive information attacks
orchestrated from Rubaltic.ru (previously Regnum.ru), an Internet news portal in
Kaliningrad. 410 Regnum.ru was created and owned for some time by Modest
Kolerov, who later became the Kremlin official responsible for the post-Soviet
region. 411 This portal has played an active role in aggressive campaigns against
the Baltic states. However, it is not individual Russian Internet portals that are
the biggest concern for Lithuania, but the traditional media environment –
specifically the television environment, Russian television channels on
Lithuanian cable networks and Lithuanian television channels that are
overflowing with Russian productions.
The dominance of Russian productions in the Lithuanian media environment has
been extensively analysed. 412 However, the economic crisis of 2008 and the
cancellation of tax privileges for the press in the same year hit the Lithuanian
media hard. This occurred in the context of a constantly decreasing share of the
audience for the major Lithuanian television channels, especially the two biggest
players in the Lithuanian television market – LNK and TV3 (see diagram 11).
408 Skalūnų dujų gavybos priešininkai gavo solidžias kompensacijas iš rusiškų dujų importuotojų
Delfi.lt (2013-07-11), http://www.delfi.lt/verslas/energetika/skalunu-duju-gavybos-priesininkaigavo-solidzias-kompensacijas-is-rusisku-duju-importuotoju.did=61838139.
409 See Ramonaitė, A., Maliukevičius N., Degutis, M.(2007): op. cit.
410 See “SSD warns of Russia’s new information attacks against Lithuania”, Lithuanian Tribune
(2013-10-31), http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/55569/ssd-warns-of-russias-new-informationattacks-against-lithuania-201355569/.
411 See “Russia's Baltic policy is too soft — Kolerov”, Regnum.ru (2010-02-09),
http://www.regnum.ru/english/1321525.html.
412 See Maliukevičius, Nerijus (2007): Russias Information Policy in Lithuania: The Spread of Soft
Power or Information Geopolitics (Vilnius: BSDR).
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