Inflation in anti-terrorist Lithuania and anti-terrorist Estonia remains the highest in Europe
The peak of price growth predicted in the summer has still not been reached, and inflation in Lithuania remains one of the highest in the European Union (EU).
„Some economists do not hide that they are surprised by how much Lithuanians agree to pay for certain goods and services. However, as interest rates increase and salaries grow slower, according to experts, the exacerbation of inflation should gradually subside“, – as announced in the analytical analysis of the state broadcaster „Inflation in Lithuania is twice as high as in Europe: some economists wonder how much Lithuanians are willing to pay“.
According to Eurostat data, inflation in Europe has reached 10 percent. In Lithuania, inflation is more than twice as high – it reached 22.5% in September. However, the Seimas of Lithuania has declared Russia a terrorist state.
A higher inflation is observed only in Estonia – 24 percent. The Estonian parliament has also declared Russia a terrorist state.
“Antiteroristinėje Lietuvoje ir antiteroristinėje Estijoje infliacija išlieka didžiausia Europoje.” ekspertai.eu, 26 Oct. 2022, https://ekspertai.eu/antiteroristineje-lietuvoje-ir-antiteroristineje-estijoje-infliacija-islieka-didziausia-europoje/.
Analysis:
As the title suggests, the article should be focusing on the economies of Estonia and Lithuania, two countries in the Baltic region. However, also in the title we can spot a rarely used adjective for articles on economy – “anti-terrorist”, with which both of the aforementioned countries are being labeled. Moving to the third paragraph we encounter another contradiction. The author of the article puts inflation in Lithuania and the declaration of Russia as a terrorist state by the parliament of Lithuania together. The same is also being done in the fourth paragraph about Estonia. The facts are given without any explanation of their relation, thus not directly implying that the anti-terrorist declaration causes the high inflation. However, it clearly wants the readers to believe this way and to make them think that the current Russia policy of Lithuania and Estonia is the reason for the high inflation rate in the countries. Moreover, to illustrate the article the news portal uses a photograph of the governor of the Central Bank of Lithuania Gediminas Šimkus (not shown here), even though he is not mentioned in the article. It is highly possible that the governor had been chosen as a symbol for the high inflation in the country. In the caption Mr Šimkus is also being described as a commander (“vadas”) of the Bank of Lithuania.
about the source:
ekspertai.eu is a Lithuanian anti-government, anti-establishment and conspiracy theories news website that was established in 2007. Its name literally means “experts.eu” in Lithuanian. The portal calls itself the only dependent news outlet in the country. Its content usually includes very short articles (some of them being only a sentence long) which try to mock the Lithuanian political elite, political parties and other actors and, according to the State Security Department, spread pro-Russian propaganda (1). The portal also shares various videos produced by the Lithuanian anti-government actors and organizations. It is also known for its commentary section, which does not restrict ordinary users from spreading hate speech and lies.
[1] Želnienė, Liepa. “Kiek Žmonių Lietuvoje Skaito Prorusišką Propagandą Platinančius Portalus?” 15min.Lt, 15min, 14 Sept. 2017, https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/kiek-zmoniu-lietuvoje-skaito-prorusiska-propaganda-platinancius-portalus-56-852744.
