Adviser to the President: Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania has not paid Landsbergis suitable respect

In his interview for „Žinių radijas”, the adviser to the President, Nerijus Udrėnas criticized yesterday’s demarche of deputies of Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (EAPL).

“What had really been presented was the lack of respect towards rebirth of Lithuania and the leader of this process, Vytautas Landsbergis. One should have better developed political culture when paying tribute to the people who fought for the independence of Lithuania” – said Nerijus Udrėnas.

During ceremonial meeting of the Seimas on the occasion of Freedom Defenders Day, deputies of EAPL ostentatiously left the room when Vytautas Landsbergis, the first leader of independent Lithuania, had come onto the platform. Deputies did the demarche within the strike against the delay in passing the law on ethnic minorities. “In this case of diminishing human dignity and ignoring the rights of citizens concerning the usage of  mother language along with the national one in public life, EAPL is leaving the room during the speech of Vytuatas Landsbergis.”  – as the EAPL’s statement which was published later, said.

EAPL is currently in the ruling coalition. The leader of socialdemocrats and Lithuanian Prime Minister,  Algirdas Butkevičius, criticized the behavior of his coalition partners. “We should understand that this holiday had finally consolidated our independence. Only after that other countries started to acknowledge our independence. That is the reason why the behavior of EAPL cannot be accepted and we will not agree to that.” – said the politician.

The incident was also commented upon by Eugeniusz Grzeszczak, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland who were in Lithuania then: “It is hard to asses because, obviously their leaving had some kind of demonstrative character. However, I think that the situation in Lithuania and the context of this declaration may be more understandable for deputies themselves than for our Polish delegation.” – said Eugeniusz Grzeszczak.

Source: http://zw.lt/wilno-wilenszczyzna/mozna-wesprzec-osoby-karane-za-dwujezyczne-tablice-z-nazwami-ulic/

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