• August 11, 2018
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Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed its employees to use original name spelling

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania responded to the expectations of its employees. Now the Ministry officials can write work e-mails in accordance with the original name spelling.

“In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work Lithuanian citizens of different nationalities. My assistant (name known to the editorial board) is a Polish woman and she has her e-mail address written in Polish, same as the officials who are married to foreigners” – said the head of the Ministry Linas Linkevičius in an interview with zw.lt. He added that the Ministry has a Polish version of their website. In this way, he wants to reach all the people and therefore he is meeting the expectations of the national minorities living in Lithuania.

Linkevičius has been a champion of the original name spelling for a long time. “We should go to the Rasos Cemetery where is a “w” letter on Basanavičius’s grave. It is not about the relations with Poland or with Polish national minority in Lithuania, it is about a civilised approach” – Lithuanian Foreign Minister has said on several occasions.

Translated by Małgorzata Dąbrowska within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.

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