Ethnic minorities
Seimas panel chairman says Lithuania must prepare for Russian provocations
Lithuania should be prepared for provocations from Russia, says Benediktas Juodka, chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. […]
Lithuanian parliament speaker: Russia’s statements on ethnic minorities in Baltics signal danger
The Russian government’s statements about the allegedly bad situation of Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltic states are alarming, says Lithuanian Parliamentary Speaker Loreta Graužinienė. She also thinks that some local politicians exaggerate problems of Lithuania’s ethnic minorities to make them appear worse than they actually are. […]
President Grybauskaitė addresses Polish speakers: I equally love all people of Lithuania
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė came to Šalčininkai, a town where Polish-speakers make up nearly three quarters of the population, to take part in a harvest festival held on Sunday. Claiming she did not want to start any political discussions on ethnic minority issues, the president said that she equally loved all people of Lithuania. […]
Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania drafts new ambitious ethnic minority bill
Members of the political group of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (LLRA) have registered a new ethnic minority bill, which would allow broad official use of the minority language and bilingual signs, as well as put the state under the obligation to provide financial support to ethnic minorities. […]
Opinion: Tomaševski’s path from Polish identity to Putin‘s “Russian World”
You cannot even imagine how painful it is for a real dzūkas [south-east Lithuanian] to see reports about people in Žemaitija [west Lithuania] picking mushrooms by hundreds and asking what to do with such wealth, while our pine forests, growing on the mainland sand dunes, are dry and bare from the summer heat. Only on the day of St. Bartholomew were we blessed with some all-day rain; after that rain it will be finally possible to go mushroom hunting. […]
Lithuanian language watchdog consents to original name-spelling for naturalized citizens and mixed families
The State Commission for the Lithuanian Language has agreed to allow original spelling of non-Lithuanian names for foreigners who become naturalized Lithuanian citizens and for the Lithuanian nationals who adopt the last name of their foreign spouse after marriage. […]
Lithuanian parliament speaker makes clear National Minority Bill will not be passed in autumn session
All ethnic minorities should agree on the National Minority Law, says Lithuania’s Parliamentary Speaker Loreta Graužinienė, making it clear that the adoption of the law initiated by the former ruling party Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (LLRA) is not envisaged in the agenda of parliament’s fall session. […]
Lithuanian president pledges more focus on ethnic minorities in eastern Lithuania
The central government will pay more attention to eastern Lithuania and ethnic minorities who live there, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė pledged on Monday during a ceremony to mark the new academic year in Lavoriškės, Vilnius District. […]
Vilnius court refuses to clarify its ruling on bilingual street signs
Vilnius Regional Administrative Court has rejected as ungrounded a request by Vilnius District Municipality to clarify its ruling ordering the removal of bilingual Lithuanian-Polish street signs in Vilnius District. […]
Former president Adamkus: Polish-speakers don’t appreciate what they have in Lithuania
The Polish-speaking minority in Lithuania do not appreciate the conditions created for them and do not want to adapt to the Lithuanian laws, the country’s former President Valdas Adamkus says. […]
President signs controversial amendment allowing ethnicity entry in Lithuanian passports
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė has signed amendments to the Passport Law, allowing to record one’s ethnicity in the passport. Some opposition politicians had called to veto the amendments, saying they might create conditions for the incitement of discord. […]
Lithuanian Tatar youth cherishes the past for the future
The historic roots of the current 3200-member Tatar community in Lithuania date back to the 14th century, when the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania fostered trade with the Mongols’ powerful Golden Horde. The ensuing ages have swept away the Duchy and Horde, but for a tiny group of the merchants’ descendants Lithuania has become their Motherland. To find out more about the ethnical minority, the Lithuania Tribune spoke to Marija Meišutovič, the chairman of Lithuania’s Tatar Youth Community “Duslyk”. […]
How many W’s will there be in Lithuanian passports?
Eight thousand names that are in breach of the standard language norms have been registered in Lithuania, so such forms of the person’s name could be transferred to a person’s identity documents, presume the representatives of the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR). […]
Bilingaul street signs provision removed from national minority bill
The Seimas of Lithuania on Thursday backed a proposal to remove the provision on bilingual street signs from the draft Law on National Minorities which is currently being debated by the lawmakers. […]
Lithuanian parliament puts off national minority bill and will consider name spelling in autumn
The draft Law on National Minorities, which the Lithuanian parliament intended to discuss on Tuesday, has been moved to Thursday, the last day of the spring session. […]
Prime Minister Butkevičius: No bilingual signs in Lithuania
Bilingual street signs will not be legalized in Lithuania during the adoption of the Law on National Minorities, Lithuania’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius says. […]
Seimas Deputy Speaker Kirkilas on never-ending saga of Law on National Minorities
TLT/DELFI spoke to Gedinimas Kirkilas, Vice Chairman of the Seimas and the Chairman of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs, about the national minorities issues in Lithuania; from the Law on National Minorities, the name spelling controversy to the Electoral Action of Poles, which is turning into a political party of all national minorities in Lithuania. […]