More positive “heretics”, less phobia!

The Lithuanian country is becoming deserted at such a fast  pace, that Lithuanian group of parliament members registered a draft resolution calling for a constitutional referendum, to be held together with the next year voting for the presidential election.

The project authors are in favor of amendment to article 12 of Republic of Lithuania Constitution, article which does not allow for dual nationality. They would like to have all Lithuania residents to support a new regulation in the universal suffrage: “The Lithuanian Republic citizens are allowed to have a dual nationality” Clever. We are playing  for high stake. After all, according to the most pessimistic estimates, 850 thousands of Lithuanians (i.e. 1/4 of Lithuanian population) left the country since the day of gaining independence. Some of them have already acquired the citizenship of their present country of residence, or are in the process of acquiring it, therefore their Lithuanian citizenship is annulled. The amendment to the above mentioned article of RL Constitution would allow all these “prodigal sons” to preserve their current civil rights and vice versa. The state – at least formally – would  retain some of their population, spread all around the world. And maybe some of these people would like to preserve their Lithuanian citizenship?

How? A young economist of „Nordea Bank Lietuva” Žygimantas Mauricas, offered quite interesting solution, couple of days ago. He is himself a re-emigrant, who lived for 6 years in seven different countries, and finally came back home with open mind and crazy idea. He blurted out at the conference “Restart Vilnius”, that Vilnius has got quite a good chance to become the true cultural, economic and scientific European capital city… on one condition, that it would get rid of its historical phobias and would open for the former Republic citizens. And more precisely… for Poles, Belorussians and Ukrainians. Since, the city importance depends not only on the population number, but also on the population quality, in Mauricas’s opinion. And that quality he sees in the multi-cultural population.

” Vilnius was for many centuries a multicultural city and still attracts many nations, therefore it has got the unique opportunity to gain such a position. (…) It has been given to us for granted, but we did not use our potential” – this is what that globetrotter blurted out in front of his audience at the conference; and DELFI copied it under simple-minded title  “Ž. Mauricas calls for inviting Belorussians, Poles and Ukrainians to Vilnius”. I must add, that he – first of all – is asking for inviting to our capital city the talented people, and the people equally open-minded as he is. I have also to say that for Vilnius like that, multicultural, open and tolerant, I would come back from Nuremberg on foot.

But, for the time being, I will wait, since the demons of the past are still thriving in our city. The veterans – members of The Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees revived them recently, during the last reunion. The old people have written an angry resolution saying among other things, that AWPL “nurses the Utopian idea of incorporating (the Lithuania) into Poland one day”, and to achieve this goal …it tries to ” disintegrate the Polish-Lithuanian good relations.” Astonishing. Everybody has to admit, that such incorporation is only possible, should the relations were good, rather than if they were bad. Unless Poland would invade us, but I do not think so. It is quite the opposite. Tomasz Siemoniak – Polish Minister of Defense urges our Minister Juozas Olekas to “accelerate the works concerning the common safety and security policy”. But the policy is not to defend ourselves from each other, is it?

Lucyna Schiller

Source: http://l24.lt/pl/opinie-i-komentarze/item/9052-wiecej-pozytywnych-%E2%80%9Eheretykow-mniej-fobii

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