The decision by TVP in liquidation to reorganize the TVP Polonia channel and significantly reduce next year’s budget for the TVP Vilnius center has caused concern among the Polish community in Lithuania. The Association of Poles in Lithuania (ZPL) has issued an appeal to the Polish authorities and to Telewizja Polska. In the appeal, ZPL stressed that “erasing 30 years of TVP Polonia’s achievements with a single decision is an action that violates the current media law, which guarantees this channel not only broadcasting rights, but also dignified and creative functioning.”
“Since its inception, TVP Polonia has played a key role in maintaining ties between compatriots and the Homeland – it showed their lives, achievements, and challenges, strengthened the sense of national community, and reinforced the belief that Poland remembers and cares about its citizens and people of Polish origin, regardless of their passport,”
the ZPL appeal states.
Polish media in Lithuania report that due to significant budget cuts, many Polish diaspora programs will not be included in next year’s programming plans of TVP in liquidation, including: Wilnoteka, Polskie szlaki północy, Wschód, Nad Niemnem. Za wschodnią granicą, Ola Polonia, Kierunek Zachód, Przystanek Ameryka, Hello Polonia, Studio w kontakcie, Z gwiazdą przez świat, Po polsku, Powiedz to po polsku.
In the appeal, ZPL emphasized that “erasing 30 years of TVP Polonia’s achievements with a single decision is an action that violates the current media law, which guarantees this channel not only broadcasting rights, but dignified, creative functioning.”
“Nearly 20 million Poles around the world have the right to dignified representation on the public broadcaster’s channel,”
reads the appeal addressed to the management of TVP in liquidation and the authorities of the Republic of Poland.
The letter stresses that “in an era of increasing geopolitical tensions and intense disinformation, Poles living beyond the eastern border of the Republic of Poland in particular need strong messaging from the country and efforts to counter propaganda pressure.”
Concern among Poles was also caused by information about plans to significantly reduce next year’s budget for the TVP Vilnius center, established in 2019 as the first foreign branch in the history of Telewizja Polska. A reduction of most local programs produced by Lithuanian Poles is expected, along with layoffs of some TVP Vilnius employees.
The Polish Embassy in Vilnius stated that “TVP Vilnius is an important channel of Polish public television, whose mission is carried out in cooperation with the Lithuanian side, which partly covers broadcasting costs.” “The station’s programs are addressed to Poles in Lithuania, but also to Lithuanians, as they are also made available on Lithuanian channels. They also play an important role in countering disinformation from Russian and Belarusian media,” it was emphasized.
The Embassy reports that “the decision regarding the station’s (TVP Vilnius) 2026 budget will be made by TVP management in connection with the ongoing restructuring of the Foreign Media Center, which includes both TVP Polonia and foreign-language channels for international audiences, as a result of which savings in program production will be possible.”
Poles are the largest national minority in Lithuania, accounting for about 6.5 percent of the population.