The victory over hipocrisy: street signs will remain, Government Representative with drew

Vilnius Regional Court legal proceedings finished in the case of bilingual signs in Vilnius District Municipality because Government Representative withdrew his claim. Bilingual signs on buildings will remain. It is a great victory of Polish minority in Lithuania which have fought for their rights for several years.

For several years, the Director of the Administration of the Local Government of Vilnius Region, Lucuna Kotłowska has been accused for putting street signs with both Lithuanian and Polish names on private houses in Vilnius District Municipality. Similarly to the Director of the Administration of Šalčininkai District Municipality Bolesław Daszkiewicz, she faced financial repressions and media pressure and she had to appear in court.

In the meantime, at a court hearing of the 20th of October this year, Government Representative withdrew his complaint because the claim was executed as poles with street names in national language had been put on pavements. The speculations of media about the removal of bilingual street signs from private buildings are not true. Bilingual signs are still there.

It is strange that Government Representative did not withdraw his complaint earlier. Both in Vilnius District Municipality and Šalčininkai District Municipality, the signs with Polish street names were put on pavements 3-4 years ago. Nevertheless, it did not prevent him from hypocritical accusations, taking L. Kotłowska to court and the public escalation of the problem.

Polish community achieved this victory thanks to their attitude and determination. Bilingual signs remained on houses and Polish people are no longer persecuted for using street signs also in their mother tongue.

Taking into consideration the fact that this decision could have been made three or four years ago, a question arises: who will answer for the wasted time, a lot of stress and the pressure on national minorities.