Website of the Seimas: in Chinese but not in Polish

The website of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania is avaliable in Lithuanian, English, Russian, German, French and Chinese language versions. It is not avaliable, however, in the languages of the neighbouring countries, such as Latvia or Poland.

Chancellor of the Seimas Jonas Milerius says that the Chinese language version was made because the Chinese embassy took the initiative but it is not out of the question that it will be removed soon.

„It’s an old story, there was many initiatives undertaken by the Chinese embassy back in the day. (…) As far as I know, this site is no longer updated. A new website is being prepared and I doubt there will be a Chinese language verions of it.” J. Milierius comments on the matter. „First and foremost, the site should be valiable in the national language, if there were funds, it could be avaliable in all langauges in the world. (…)”

Chancellor pointed out that it is important that the information are in the official languages of the EU – English and French. And the promotion in the European Union with the minimum cost, is also important.

The deputy marshal of the Seimas from Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, Jarosław Narkiewicz thinks that the more languages, the better for the reades. He pointed out that the website of the Seimas should be avaliable in the Polish language.

„It should be explained why there is not Polish langauge version. I think it is a matter of negligence. Polish is one of the official language of the UE and the Polish people are the most numerous national minority in Lithuania. These reasons are enough to have Polish language version of the site.” J. Narkiewicz said.

Political scientist Vytautas Dumbliauskas is also surprised by the lack of Polish language version.

„There are 40 mln people living in Poland. Many tourists from Poland visit Lithuania, they can bring a lot of money. (…) I think that the Polish language version is a much better idea then the Chinese one.” V. Dumbliauskas comments.

Based on: www.15min.lt

Source: http://l24.lt/pl/spoleczenstwo/item/10413-strona-internetowa-litewskiego-sejmu-w-jezyku-chinskim-tak-w-polskim-%E2%80%93-nie

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