Sikorski: Poland waits for Lithuanian politicians to acknowledge what their linguists have been saying all along.

‘Poland waits for Lithuanian politicians to acknowledge what Lithuanian linguists acknowledged a long time ago – that Polish letters do not threaten Lithuanian sovereignity,’ said Radosław Sikorski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, in an interview with “Rzeczpospolita.”

‘For twenty years we have been patiently waiting for Lithuanian politicians to acknowledge what Lithuanian linguists have been saying, namely that the letters ś, ć, and even w do not constitute threat to the sovereignty of Lithuania,’ said Radosław Sikorski

He also added that the issue of national minorities is currently under international arbitration. ‘The treatment of minorities on both sides of the border is currently under international arbitration. I hope that both countries will follow the recommendations of OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities.’

PL DELFI reminds that it was the Polish side who suggested that OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek be involved in the dispute on the problems of national minorities in Lithuania and Poland; meanwhile the Lithuanian side objects to such an approach, maintaining that the dispute can be settled without involving “third parties” and that the suggestion is a way of exerting pressure on Lithuania.

http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/polska/sikorski-cierpliwie-czekamy-az-litewscy-politycy-uznaja-to-co-mowia-litewscy-lingwisci.d?id=59039489#ixzz1zYJR5gO2

Tłumaczenie Andrzej Rola w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Andrzej Rola within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.