Polish-Lithuanian Relationships May Deteriorate After the Elections

The only certain thing after the last parliamentary elections is that a social democrat Algirdas Butkevičius will be Prime Minister. “The centre-left coalition does not mean that Polish-Lithuanian relationships will improve,” we read in “Rzeczpospolita.”

President Dalia Grybauskaitė has dispelled the concept of a quick allocation of ministerial portfolios. She has announced that she cannot imagine a government with a party (Labour Party – PL DELFI) which is suspected of vote buying and  double entry book-keeping. In addition to that, a criminal inquiry is held against the leaders of Labour Party.

Audrius Bačiulis, a well-known Lithuanian journalist, has told “Rzeczpospolita” that chances for a coalition of a combination of several political are small. “In such a government, Butkevičius would be Prime Minister only by name because the real power would have the current Prime Minister, a conservative,  Andrius Kubilius,” explained the journalist.

According to him Polish-Lithuanian relationships may deteriorate. “It will be even worse because the problems with the spelling of Polish names resulted from social democrats’ previous politics. In addition to that, as former post-communists, they won’t do anything that would look like yielding to Warsaw,” said Bačiulis.

Jerzy Haszczyński, the author of the article, has reminded the readers that the members of the party took a nationalist position towards Poles. Nevertheless, Haszczyński believes that the possible, future Prime Minister Linas Linkevičius will be a better partner to hold talks with than Audronius Ažubalis.

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/polska/po-wyborach-relacje-polsko-litewskie-moga-sie-pogorszyc.d?id=59879291

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