Is it possible to write the surnames and the names of the roads in Polish?

The working group which deals with the problems of national minorities in Lithuania has just finished their work and presented the recommendations to the Government of Lithuania and to the Prime Minister. According to these recommendations the Ministers have to prepare appropriate legislations to the drafts of law connected with the spelling of names and national minorities. 

The Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičiusa command to the Ministry of Culture to prepare and pass to the Parliament the drafts of the law of national minorities which would be regulated the rights and obligations of the citizens who declare that they belong to these specific group. This Law is intended to cover the issue of the possibility of writing, for example in Polish, the names of streets and places (along with subtitles in the state language) where Poles constitute a large part of the inhabitants.

The Ministry of Justice was commanded to prepare the acts which would help to solve the matter connected with the original writing of names and surnames in documents. “In the recommendation of working group is a proposition to make the law that names and surnames in the documents are written in Lithuanian letters but there might be some exceptions. In that case the names and the surnames must be written using only a Latin alphabet. Citizens may request their name to be written in any language that is based on a Latin alphabet” – said the Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius.

„In the long term, the working group proposed the preparation and the approval of the strategy of development connected with national minorities in the years 2015-2021. The aim of such policy is to ensure favourable conditions for the integration of minorities into the society of Lithuania, with the ability to preserve their national characteristics, as well as the permission to use their cultural potential for the good of society in Lithuania. We should do everything in order to integrate the representatives of all national minorities Lithuanian society, while preserving their characteristics, and to ensure the consistency of national relations in the country “- these words were written in the Prime Minister’s press release service.

In conclusion, the working group also included a statement that the majority of the representatives of national minorities should know the state language, as it is the duty of each citizen of Lithuania.

Based on: Irv.lt

Source: http://www.wilnoteka.lt/pl/artykul/nazwiska-i-nazwy-ulic-byc-moze-po-polsku

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