On 17th December 2013, on behalf of the Members of the European Parliament, the President of the Committee on Petitions Erminia Mazzoni has issued an official letter to the Lithuanian government with a request to respond to the problems of the Polish minority raised in the petition.
The purpose of the petition is to take by the EP all possible political and legal steps, the aim of which is to guarantee the respect of the fundamental rights of the Poles in Lithuania, including the right to names' spelling in their native language, use of the Polish language in public life, use of bilingual streets' and locations' names.
According to the information of our website, the letter of the Chairwoman of the Committee on Petitions included questions on all the issues mentioned above. The chairwoman of the Committee asked the Lithuanian government to indicate the specific measures that were taken to support the Polish minority. The lack of a relevant legislation governing the rights of national and ethnic minorities in Lithuania was highlighted as well.
'A letter issued on the behalf of the EP to Lithuanian authorities regarding the rights of Poles in Lithuania is a ground-breaking event. EU has clearly stood for the solution of the problem of the Polish minority compatible with the European standards of protection of the minority rights,' the author of the petition stated. He clarified that 'the huge success is that despite an unfavourable so far approach to the Polish minority in Lithuania of the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg and then the European Commission, the European Parliament returns to the problem of ensuring the language rights to the Polish minority. Moreover, it recognizes the right of Poles in Lithuania, as the EU citizens, to cultivate and develop their cultural heritage.'
The petition was supported by the signatures of several thousand EU citizens. It was also supported by the European Foundation for Human Rights as well as other non-governmental organizations from the very beginning. It is worth noting that thanks to the EP proceedings on the issue of the petition, the problems of Poles in Lithuania are still present in the Polish media.
