Karczewski: I am ready to talk with deputies who block the Act on spelling names

“For a long time there has been no cooperation between our countries, I realized that I was on an official visit to Lithuania 10 years ago. It was a wasted time,” said Stanisław Karczewski, the Speaker of the Polish Senate in an interview with Radio “Znad Wilii”. .

 “We should have discussed the issue, we are neighbors, we have a common history, we also have a lot to say about the future. We should communicate with each other, we should cooperate and we will – I hope that all these contacts, conversations, will lead us to eliminate disputable points” – it was stressed by Stanisław Karczewski.

He added that the talks with the Lithuanian Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament show that there is a will to solve problems and an accompanying good atmosphere.

For many years, Poland has indicated that relations with Lithuania woulld be as good as the situation of the Polish minority in Lithuania. During the visit to Vilnius, Stanisław Karczewski emphasized many times that the development of cooperation between the two countries will also contribute to a faster resolution of the affairs of Poles in Lithuania. Will such a change in the narrative bring effects in relations with Lithuania?

“You have to use all methods, so you also have to use this one. It is about the effect, about our strategic goals, cooperation and that Poles who live in Lithuania have good conditions for work and they have guaranteed what we have been long striving for. I think that the improving atmosphere is helpful and many things will be solved soon. Of course, there is also the opposition. I have declared in a conversation with the Chairman that as a guardian of Poles living abroad I am always ready to come and talk – also to talk with those who have different opinions, with those deputies who still hold back the legislative process that allows the spelling of Polish names.” – noted Karczewski.

Does this law, from Poland’s point of view, allow only three letters of the Latin alphabet to be recorded in identity documents: q, w and x, solves the problem of writing Polish surnames?

“This is a step in the right direction. You have to start something off. With this, we will already have something behind us. Sometimes you have to take a small step in orded to be able to do bigger in the future”- claims the Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland.

In an interview with Stanisław Karczewski – on the role of AWPL-ZChR in the dialogue between the authorities of Poland and Lithuania, financial support of the Senate for Polish communities in Lithuania and whether Poles in the Vilnius region are an example of activity for Polonia in the world.