Czubiński met with Šimašius. The mayor of Vilnius accuses AWPL of provocation

Today, the 25th of August, the ambassador of Poland in Lithuania Jaroslaw Czubiński met with the Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius. The meeting concerned i.a. the Polish education in Vilnius.

The meeting took place at the initiative of the Mayor of the Lithuanian capital. “The main reason, of course, was the Polish education in Vilnius. I can assure that we are doing everything we can to make the quality of Polish education keep improving. I see, however, that a group of certain people is preparing defiance and thus wants to harm even the bilateral Polish-Lithuanian relations. That is why I wanted to tell the ambassador what steps have been taken and what was done. I told about the situation of the Lelewel School where the workers are finishing the renovation at the Minties Street. The school is being moved to a really properly renovated building”– Šimašius said in an interview with zw.lt. “I have just told that to the ambassador and I wanted him to pass the information to the Polish side. I did this so that these issues do not harm the relations between the two countries ” – the mayor said.

When asked about a group of people, which “is preparing the defiance” the mayor did not circumambulate. “This is not a secret. The Electoral Action, during the election campaign, wants to show that the students and the parents of the Lelewel School are being wronged. I can see that the headmistress of the school is under pressure. They want to show that everything is bad” – the host of Vilnius explained his view.

The mayor has ensured that the students will start the new school year in the building of the former Antoni Wiwulski School. “As I previously declared, the school is ready to take them in, although the renovation was express. Several million euros was invested. The interior must be ready, and the external works are to be completed within a few months” said the mayor.

The editors of the zw.lt received an information that a group of young students will be taught in a building in Antakalnis during the first few months. “The objective is to have all of the students moved into the renovated building. As I said, the works were performed in rapid pace. Should we have any delay, we will solve the problem. However, now we would like to invite everybody to the school at the Minties Street on the 1st of September.

From the press release of the Polish Embassy in Vilnius, it appears that during the meeting “the ambassador pointed out that improving the situation of the majority at the cost of the rights and the status of a national minority is conflicting with the international principles and law. In the provided information there weren’t any theses about a will to seek a compromise regarding leaving the students in the building at Antakalnio Street or about the proposals presented by the community which is defending the school. In the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections and the political commitment of a part of the city’s authorities, it’s hard not to notice that, as a result of the past events, the school community has become a subject of games on the Lithuanian political scene”.

“The ambassador assured very deep concern and constant interest of the authorities of the Republic of Poland Affairs regarding the countrymen residing in the Republic of Lithuania, including Vilnius”– added.