Government chaos surrounding bilingual signposts

The left do not essentially know what they are doing. This is how we can describe the actions

now  taken  by  Algirdas  Butkevičius’  government  in  respect  to  bilingual,  Polish-Lithuanian

signposts for towns and streets.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius stated that it is untrue that the government is

unwilling to resolve the issue in question. On the other hand some time ago the Prime Minister

himself stated that the government is in fact against solving this issue.

“The government programme was written to explicitly state that we will pursue a  solution to

this  issue.  First,  in  regards  to  original  name  spelling,  consultations  are  underway  and  a

workgroup led by the Ministry of Justice has been created. Later on we will attend other issues.

Government programme cannot be changed by anyone” – said the Minister to DELFI.

On Sunday the Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and a fellow party member of Linkevičius

stated  that  the  government will not  give  its  approval  to bilingual  signposts.  “In my  view we

should  understand  that  we  are  all  Lithuanian  citizens.  All  citizens  of  Lithuania  should  be

subject  to  the  same  conditions. That means  that  there  should be no bilingual  signposts  if we

respect  our  country,  our  constitution  and  the  legal  system  of  our  country”  – Prime Minister

said when interviewed.

In  the  interview  Algirdas  Butkevičius  attended,  he  failed  to  mention  the  fact  that  his  own

government obliged itself to resolve the issue of bilingual signposts and original name spelling

as  part  of  its  programme.  Additionally,  the  social  democrats  committed  themselves  to

introducing bilingual signposts in Lithuania as part of the manifesto, which contributed to their

last year’s victory in parliamentary elections.

For  the  past  twenty  years  Polish  Lithuanians  have  demanded  to  be  granted  the  right  to

bilingual,  Polish-Lithuanian  signposts  and  the  right  to  be  able  to  spell  names  in  accordance

with original spelling. It is on the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania’s demand that the above

postulates were  included  in the programme of the current government. The right to bilingual

signposts is guaranteed by, inter alia, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National

Minorities and the Treaty between Poland and the Republic of Lithuania on  friendly relations

and neighbourly cooperation.

Poles  from  the Vilnius and Šalčininkai regions set up signposts outside  their own homes  that

are both in Lithuanian and Polish. The Lithuanian Courts however have ordered such signposts

in Polish to be taken down. On the other hand, the Lithuanian national minority in Poland uses

the right granted to them by the Polish Act on National Minorities to hang bilingual signposts in

areas where they compose a compact society.

Source: http://www.kurierwilenski.lt/2013/09/03/rzadowy-chaos-wokol-dwujezycznych-nazw/

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