Several deputies against the National Minorities Bill

Several members of parliament put the motion to the  Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius for the government not to debate on the National Minorities Act which is said to be allegedly against the Lithuanian constitution.

“Constitutional status of the Lithuanian language is binding and leaves no possibility for bilingualism. It gives all the citizens equal opportunities to participate in public life and also to realize an academic and professional career in Lithuania” – said conservative Valentinas Stundys during the press conference on Wednesday.

In a letter to the Prime Minister the deputies tried to convince him that the government isn’t obliged in any way to legalize the bilingual names of places and streets. All the more since it would be against the constitution and the Constitutional Court’s decisions.

“When making a decision on the National Minorities Act it is important to take into account the geopolitical situation of Latvia. The authorities of Latvia noticed that meeting the requirements of AWPL (Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania) would make the situation in Latvia significantly more complicated when it comes to the issues of Russian minority. It would trigger off pressure from Russia and interfering in Latvian matters” – the deputies wrote in their statement.

The AWPL fraction hold the standpoint that the coalition agreement is most important. “There are coalition agreements. Whether our partners will react to this motion or not, it is they that should be asked” – said the deputy chairman of the Seimas, Jarosław Narkiewicz.

The workgroup led by Deputy Minister of Education Edward Trusewicz prepared a National Minorities Bill. According to the Bill, “in a local governments where the national minority constitutes at least 25 percent of the inhabitants, a person from the minority is entitled to use the minority’s language while communicating with the local government’s administration”. The project also assumes that at such places names of the streets, official institutions and topographic signs can be written down in two languages, the national one and the one of the minority.

Currently, Poles constitute over 25 percent of the inhabitants in the Vilnius Region, Soleczniki Region, Święciański Region and Trakai Region and Russians in Visaginas.

Source: http://zw.lt/litwa/grupa-poslow-przeciwna-projektowi-ustawy-o-mniejszosciach-narodowych/

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