Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjunga, LVŽS)

EU RANK: 136 (Tier 3: Moderate Performance)

The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) is an agrarian, socially conservative party that combines rural‑interest advocacy with green branding and strong emphasis on state intervention in the economy. After leading the government from 2016 to 2020, it has declined electorally; in the 2024 Seimas election LVŽS won 8 seats (about 7.0%) and now sits in opposition, with Aurelijus Veryga as party chair and Aurimas Norkienė heading its parliamentary group.​​

Disinformation and alternative media

LVŽS mainly uses mainstream media, especially LRT, commercial TV stations and major portals, and its own digital channels to communicate, focusing on rural development, family policy and criticism of liberal social reforms. Its rhetoric can be populist and sharply critical of urban elites and previous governments, but mappings of Lithuanian disinformation ecosystems highlight pro‑Kremlin and nationalist outlets rather than LVŽS as primary vectors of false narratives. The party does not operate a dense, separate network of conspiratorial alternative media; instead, it seeks coverage through talk shows, news programmes and regional media, combined with standard social‑media campaigning.

LVŽS sometimes amplifies emotionally charged narratives on issues like alcohol regulation, cultural questions and relations with public broadcaster LRT, which can polarise debate, yet there is no evidence of coordinated inauthentic behaviour or systematic dissemination of fabricated stories comparable to Kremlin‑aligned operations. Overall, its disinformation risk is moderate and stems more from politicised framing than from organised false‑information campaigns.​

Foreign influence and external alignments

The Farmers and Greens Union is formally pro‑EU and pro‑NATO, supporting Lithuania’s Euro‑Atlantic orientation and backing sanctions against Russia and assistance to Ukraine. It emphasises national sovereignty, scepticism toward some EU policies perceived as harmful to rural communities, and protection of traditional values, but it does not advocate withdrawal from the EU or NATO. At the European level, LVŽS cooperates with agrarian and green‑conservative forces rather than with openly Eurosceptic or pro‑Kremlin parties.​

Analyses of malign foreign influence in Lithuania concentrate on Kremlin‑aligned media, minority parties and informal elite networks; LVŽS is not identified as a conduit for Russian state interests, though its more conservative base can be a target for such narratives in the broader information environment. Its foreign‑influence risk is therefore limited and largely systemic rather than specific.

Media capture, advertising and public service media

LVŽS has exerted influence over media primarily through institutional pressure rather than ownership. During its 2016–2020 majority, the party initiated a parliamentary inquiry into public broadcaster LRT, a move widely criticised by governance monitors and media‑freedom advocates as an attempt to bring political pressure to bear on the broadcaster under the guise of financial oversight. In April 2025 the Seimas, with strong LVŽS backing, again asked the National Audit Office to audit LRT; conservatives and liberal parties boycotted the vote, warning about risks to editorial independence.

These episodes illustrate a recurrent tug‑of‑war over LRT governance: LVŽS frames inquiries as accountability measures, while critics see them as efforts to influence or intimidate public media. The party does not directly own major outlets—Lithuanian law prohibits party media ownership—but it operates in a system where regional media often depend on municipal contracts and advertising, giving parties with strong local networks potential soft‑capture leverage. In funding terms, LVŽS is one of the largest recipients of state subsidies, receiving about €960,000 in 2024, which supports substantial communication and advertising budgets under VRK oversight.

Corruption, litigation and institutional integrity

Litigation surveys for 2015–2025 report no major criminal convictions against LVŽS as a party. The Farmers and Greens have nevertheless faced significant scrutiny, especially around party leader Ramūnas Karbauskis’ agribusiness holdings; investigative reporting probed land‑ownership structures and potential conflicts of interest, but these episodes resulted in political controversy and administrative examination rather than final criminal judgments. The party’s aggressive stance towards LRT and involvement in contentious oversight efforts have also raised questions about its approach to institutional checks and balances.

International governance assessments view Lithuania’s overall anti‑corruption framework as relatively strong but stress ongoing vulnerabilities in public procurement, political finance and links between business groups and politics. LVŽS operates within this environment as a party with substantial public subsidies and strong regional networks; while it lacks the party‑level convictions of formations like the Liberal Movement or Labour Party, its history of governance controversies and close ties to major business interests keep its institutional‑integrity risk at a moderate level.

Press freedom, harassment and treatment of critical media

LVŽS’s relationship with public broadcaster LRT has been contentious. The parliamentary inquiry launched under its 2016–2020 majority and the renewed 2025 audit initiative were seen by many journalists, civil‑society organisations and opposition parties as attempts to pressure LRT and potentially chill critical coverage. While these actions occurred within legal frameworks for oversight, their frequency and tone have contributed to concerns about political interference in public‑service media.

There is limited evidence of the party systematically using defamation suits or direct state sanctions against individual journalists, but its rhetoric toward LRT and some critical outlets is often combative, accusing them of bias and politicisation. Press‑freedom reports note that Lithuania remains highly ranked overall, yet they cite the LRT inquiry episodes as notable stress tests for media independence, with LVŽS playing a central role. This combination of institutional pressure and antagonistic rhetoric places the party at a moderate‑to‑elevated risk level for media‑freedom concerns compared with more explicitly supportive parties.

Dimension	Risk level	Short justification
Disinformation & alternative media	Medium	Uses mainstream and regional media with populist framing; not tied to conspiratorial networks, but sharp rhetoric can polarise debate and intersect with vulnerable local‑media ecosystems.
Foreign influence & external alignments	Low–Medium	Pro‑EU/NATO but more sovereigntist and sceptical of some EU policies; no evidence of structured ties to authoritarian regimes or foreign state‑aligned media.
Media‑capture & advertising / PSB control	Medium–High	No media ownership, but repeated parliamentary inquiries and audits targeting LRT are widely seen as political pressure, and strong regional networks operate in a context of municipal‑media dependence.
Corruption & institutional‑integrity risk	Medium	No party‑level convictions, yet close links to agribusiness interests and governance controversies invite scrutiny in a system with known vulnerabilities.
Press‑freedom & harassment of media	Medium–High	Central actor in contentious LRT oversight efforts and frequently combative toward public media, raising significant concerns about indirect pressure on editorial independence.