G. Kirkilas: Lithuania fails to fulfil the terms of the Lithuanian-Polish Friendship and Cooperation Agreement

Deputy Speaker of the Seimas Gediminas Kirkilas claims that by not allowing the original spelling of non-Lithuania names in passports, Lithuania fails to fulfil the terms of the Lithuanian-Polish Friendship and Cooperation Agreement signed by Poland and Lithuania twenty years ago. 

According to him, the Lithuanian stance on the subject is directly harmful to the citizens of our country.

“Those who claim that the supporters of the spelling using Latin-based characters are Polish agents don’t realize how many problems must Lithuanian citizens married to foreigners face because of the lack of the appropriate regulations,” the Deputy Speaker said at the Wednesday meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

He said that he hoped for a draft Laws on Spelling of Names and Surnames to be submitted to the Seimas this week and approved. According to Kirkilas, the delay is one of the main reasons why the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Poland and Lithuania has not resumed its work yet.

Source: http://l24.lt/pl/polityka/item/35555-g-kirkilas-litwa-nie-wywiazuje-sie-z-traktatu-polsko-litewskiego

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