National minorities OSCE expert visits Lithuania

Veronika Kristkova paid a visit in Lithuania; she is a national minorities expert on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The purpose of this visit is to check the situation of national minorities, national minorities bill and at what stage the document is.

Lithuania doesn’t have an Act on national minorities, because the document which has been in force for 20 years expired on 1st January 2010. According to Jūratės Palionytės, vice-chairwoman of the Commission of the Lithuanian Language, an expert on legal matters of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Veronika Kristkova was interested above all in the spelling of non Lithuanian surnames in Lithuanian official documents.

Veronika Kristkova met with Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, paid a visit at the House of National Communities, met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – an international organization, came into existence on the 1st January 1995. The purpose of it is preventing conflicts in Europe. Apart from European countries, the following are also members: the United States, Canada, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Mongolia.

Adapted from: BNS, lrs.lt, vikipedia.pl