I am writing about this with reference to the actions and statements of successive governments and ministers of Lithuania regarding the solutions of Polish minority problems. It looks like a game. Firstly, Lithuanian authorities promise to settle a particular case, then they say that legislative works are already going on, then they promise to have the votes, and then...everything results in consternation. Another politician starts saying that it is either too early or too late and that it is necessary to wait a bit and discuss the matter. It means that the case is simply put aside to the so-called political freezer. It seems that Lithuanian nationalist politicians just want to get rid of interested people when speaking about Polish problems. And there are a lot of examples of that. Even the latest one on the spelling of Polish names.

Legal regulation of the spelling of Polish names had to be submitted by the end of April. And it is May already. The Lithuanian government (with the help of the Minister of Justice) promises to submit the particular proposal in the nearest future, but there are no details provided. The game is still going on. The problem has grown into something enormous. Keeping the existing law regarding the spelling of Polish names means keeping the discrimination based on nationality grounds in Lithuania. And no excuses can help, as the violation of fundamental human rights has become a fact. Just after the right to life, the right to one's own name is one of the most important rights, as it determines each person's unique identity. The right to a name is one of the personal rights and is classified as primary one or even an inherent one. First names and family names, as the personal goods of a person, should by protected by the law, both civil and administrative. Such protection is justified, inter alia, by the fact that particular emotional load is related to one's name. It is also crucial, that the name should be treated not only as an individual good, but as family good too. The ancestors of Poles in Lithuania cannot stand the idea that their birth names are mutilated and twisted and then, as a result, lituanised. The stubbornness of the Lithuanian authorities is irrational in this issue. The spelling of Polish names is not a linguistic problem, rather a political one. Therefore, the solution to it must be found by politicians, not by linguists. Only good will is needed, which Lithuanian authorities lack for sure. But after all, the matter of names is not the only debatable issue in Lithuania.

There is also the issue of the prohibition of the use of bilingual signs in municipalities where Poles constitute the majority of the population. It is happening despite the fact, that this is the violation of European standards and international conventions ratified by Lithuania. The imposition of large fines as well as official and judicial harassment of directors of the Administrations of Vilnius District and Šalčininkai district is an obvious attack on the Polish minority. I am talking about the fines for not removing the bilingual signs with street names hanging on the private houses of inhabitants. This is simply ridiculous. Judicial and administrative measures were initiated against the director Liucina Kotlovska. This is not only a mean to intimidate Polish community, but also an attempt to financially destroy individuals performing governmental functions and the flagrant violations of the rights of Polish minority in Lithuania. Similar administrative measures have been taken against Boleslav Daškevič, the director of the Administrations of Šalčininkai district. Mr Daškevič has also numerously suffered from fines for Polish signs with street names. This special (in the context of the European Union) situation is violating the European standards in the area of the protection of the rights of national minorities, which are, inter alia, included in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Polish-Lithuanian Treaty. This is an obvious example of discrimination on the grounds of nationality. It has to be noted, that the Lithuanian minority in Poland enjoys wide privileges including the use of bilingual place names. This is the right approach of Poland to the issues of national minorities. There is a lack of such reciprocity on the side of Lithuania.

The picture of the whole situation may be complemented by the fact, that the official website of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania is available in Lithuanian, English, German, French, Russian, and even Chinese. No Polish found. As it can be seen, according to the Lithuanian authorities, the largest in the state Polish national minority (nearly 7 percent) does not deserve its own version of language. But the Chinese language is really welcomed in Lithuania. And these all are not coincidences as there are no coincidences in politics. These are deliberate anti-polish actions of the successive Lithuanian governments; actions that are embarrassing for a member state of the European Union. It is high time for Poland to revise its attitude towards Lithuania and to decisively react towards the official Lithuanian chauvinism, the blades of which are aimed towards the Polish national minority.

Dr. Bogusław Rogalski
Political scientist, ECR Adviser for International Affairs in the European Parliament