In the year 2009, Polish nongovernmental organization “Wspolnota Polska” (“Polish Community”), in cooperation with the Union of Lithuanian Poles and Lithuanian Society of Teachers of Polish Schools, prepared the publication about the situation of Polish national minority in Lithuania. It is notable that the said publication was prepared without consulting any state authorities of Republic of Lithuania, so reasonable doubts about its impartiality appear. In the publication, a conformity of the situation of Polish national minority to the provisions of the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good Neighbourly Cooperation signed by and between Republic of Lithuania and Republic of Poland as well as other international legal norms were assessed, although the sphere of competence of the above-mentioned Polish nongovernmental organization does not include a legal assessment.
In spite of the fact that abundant positively appreciable aspects exist in Lithuania and are officially recognized in Poland (for example, Polish Ministry of Education recognizes the system of education for Polish national minority in Lithuania to be the best in Europe), the publication provides a number of unfair and incorrect statements and assessments. Poles form the largest national minority of Lithuania, i.e. 6.7 of the population of the country, so Lithuanian authorities pay a considerable attention to the needs of this national minority. It should be noted that Lithuanian national minority in Poland that is considerably smaller is confronted with a number of unsettled problems; however, the publication by “Wspolnota Polska” does not mention them. Hereinafter, we provide the comments of the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad under the Government of Republic of Lithuania on the publication by “Wspolnota Polska” about the situation of Polish national minority in Lithuania and information on the situation of Lithuanian national minority in Poland.
In assessing the information on education of citizens of Polish origin in Lithuania provided in the publication by “Wspolnota Polska”, it should be stressed that the Constitution and other laws of Republic of Lithuania ensure a right for education in the vernacular language for national minorities.
The statement on consecutive attempts to limit using Polish and to degrade its role in the education system in Lithuania does not correspond to reality. Lithuania is the only state where representatives of Polish national minority are provided an opportunity of complete education in the vernacular language – from the primary to higher education. Byalystok University Vilnius Branch is the only branch of Polish higher school abroad.
The Law on Education of Republic of Lithuania guarantees a secondary education in the vernacular language for national minorities. This provision of the Law is implemented in respect of Polish national minority. At present, 63 general education schools with teaching in Polish exist in Lithuania (before the restoration of Independence the number of such schools was 44, thus it increased by about 50 percent within the period of Independence); in addition, 36 schools include classes with teaching in Polish. In the period 1991-2009, the number of pupils at the said schools increased from 11’407 to 15’064. In addition, 12 Saturday/Sunday schools were established and the state annually provides financial support for them. It should be noted that the state provides financing for publishing manuals and textbooks in Polish for pupils of forms from 1 to 12.
In respect of the arguments of the final examination in Polish, it should be noted that only the final examination in the state language is compulsory in Lithuania. Other examinations, including an examination in the vernacular language (for example, Polish), are freely chosen. A school-leaver and the school community make a decision on including an examination in the vernacular language in the list of final examinations. So, the opinion that the failure to provide the status of a compulsory final examination to a final examination in Polish is a degradation of the status of Polish is not reasonable.
About the uniform standard for the final examination in the state language. As it was mentioned above, Lithuanian language is taught as the state language at schools with teaching in Polish and it is taught as the vernacular language at schools with teaching in Lithuanian. Because of this, different requirements in respect of examination in the state language are applied to pupils leaving schools for national minorities and those leaving schools for Lithuanians. The Ministry of Education plans to introduce a uniform examination in the state language in the year 2012. At present, the relevant programmes and measures applicable for ensuring a smooth transfer to a uniform examination in the state language are being developed.
It should be noted that no of the mentioned measures for improving education of national minorities does not reduce the scope of functioning of the vernacular (Polish) language in the education process. On the contrary, Lithuania provided an opportunity of studies in vernacular language at a higher school for every Pole by providing the permit for establishing a branch of Byalystok University in Vilnius, thus answering the wish of the Polish national minority to have a higher school with studies in Polish.
In respect to the ostensibly unreasonable requirement on keeping school documentation and arranging school meetings in the state language, it should be noted the Law on the State Language sets this requirement for all institutions, entities, enterprises and organizations developing their activities in Republic of Lithuania. General education schools with teaching in a language of a national minority are state institutions, so the provisions of the Articles 4 and 10 of the Law on the State Language are applicable to them.
The publication also includes unreasonable complaints related to the requirement on using the state language at offices. The Article 4 of the Law on the State Language provides that local offices and organizations of territorial administering units where compact concentrations of representatives of any national minority exist, the language of such national minority can be used alongside the state language. This provision was elaborated in the Article 18 of the Law on the State Language: it provides that names of organizations of national minorities and their informing inscriptions can be provided also in other languages, in addition to the same in the state language. The Law does not regulate the language of informal events of national minorities. Such provisions of the Law do not violate the Article 14 of the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good Neighbourly Cooperation signed by and between Republic of Lithuania and Republic of Poland providing that national minorities (Lithuanians in Poland and Poles in Lithuania) are free to use the language of the national minority in the personal and public life. The valid legal norms do not violate the provisions of Article 10 of the Council’s of Europe Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities and the provisions of the Article 15 of the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good Neighbourly Cooperation signed by and between Republic of Lithuania and Republic of Poland on using a language of a national minority at offices, in particular those situated in territorial administering units where a majority of the population is presented by a national minority. In practice, the provisions of the Article 4 of the Law on the State Language are implemented in the territories where compact concentrations of representatives of Polish national minority are presented (the territories governed by self-governments of Šalčininkai District and Vilnius District): at local institutions and offices, communication takes place in a language acceptable to the both parties, i.e. the employee of the institution or office and the visitor.
The Article 1 Part 2 of the project of new wording of the Law on the State Language provides that the Law does not regulate the rights of persons that are members of national minorities, ethnic groups, religious communities and societies to use publicly their native language according to the procedures provided by other laws as well as individual rights, including the right to learn foreign languages and to use them in absence of violation of other personal rights. The statement from the Article 14 Part 2 of the said project of the Law “Unofficial place-names in public records can be provided according to the procedure set by the institution authorized by the Government of Republic of Lithuania” provides an opportunity of public exposing both dialects of national minorities and the ones of Lithuanian.
In respect of spelling Polish given names and surnames in personal identification documents, it should be noted that the Government of Republic of Lithuania provided a project of the new law on using non-Lithuanian characters in personal documents to the Seimas in June 2007 for examination. In the project, it is proposed to use both Lithuanian and other characters of Latin origin in personal names. If an opportunity of using other (non-Lithuanian) characters of Latin origin is provided, the problem of spelling given names and surnames of non-Lithuanian origin of relevant residents of Republic of Lithuania would be settled. A further discussion on the project of the law will be possible after provision of the conclusion of the Constitutional Court, because the Seimas of Republic of Lithuania addressed itself to the Court on 11 June 2009.
The accusations related to limitation of electoral rights of Polish national minority in Lithuania are groundless as well. Laws of Republic of Lithuania provide an opportunity of involvement in the public life and representation at state and local authorities to representatives of national minorities. The same election threshold of 5 percent is valid for all political parties and organizations (7 percent – for coalitions). So, this requirement cannot be considered discriminating Lithuanian citizens of Polish origin. The electoral system is favorable for Polish national minority; it is attested by the results of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania in the elections to the Seimas of Republic of Lithuania (3 mandates in the Seimas of this term), municipal elections (6 mandates at Vilnius Municipality, 20 mandates at Šalčininkai District Self-government, 19 mandates at Vilnius District Self-government, 5 mandates at Trakai District Self-government, and 3 mandates at Švenčionys District Self-government) and elections to European Parliament (1 mandate). Reproaches on unfavorable formation of electoral constituencies in respect of Lithuanian citizens of Polish origin are groundless as well. The average size of a constituency in Lithuania is 38’000 electors. Between any two elections, about twenty territorial corrections of electoral constituencies (transfer of some polling-stations to other constituencies) take place. It is strived to maintain an even distribution of electors during the elections. Such corrections are carried out in the whole territory of Lithuania and are not bound with any changes of proportion between nations. According to the data from the Central Electoral Commission, joining Salininkai polling-station to Trakai – Vilnius Constituency was made for leveling the number of electors in adjacent polling-stations. In addition, the national composition of Salininkai polling-station practically does not differ from the one of adjacent polling-stations, so this change cannot affect the results of elections. It is notable that about 4 percent of electors ballot for candidates of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania in the elections to the Seimas of Republic of Lithuania, although the share of Lithuanian citizens of Polish origin in the population is about 7 percent. So, electors of Polish origin follow attitudes that are not bound with the national criteria in elections.
Answering the statements of the publication on discrimination in land restitution and disintegration of concentrated Polish national minority in Vilnius District in this way, we’d like to stress that no policy of “settlement of Vilnius Region by persons of Lithuanian origin“ exists in Lithuania. Because of the objective causes (lack of funds and human resources) and the subjective causes (frequent disputes and lawsuits among pretenders), the land reform and the process of restitution of rights for real estate protracted. Nevertheless, according to the data provided by the Administration of the Head of Vilnius County in October 2009, the property rights for land, forest and water bodies in Vilnius County where compact settlements of Lithuanian citizens of Polish origin are situated have been restituted for 92.2 percent of the area of land.
It should be mentioned that no law on restitution of rights for remained real estate exists in Poland.
It is also impossible to assent to the statement of the publication on a considerable disproportion between the funds allotted for support of Lithuanian communities in foreign states and the funds allotted for cherishing the cultural identity of national minorities in Lithuania. Over one million of persons of Lithuanian origin (almost one third of the nation) reside out of Lithuania. Their communities exist worldwidely; however, the situation and the needs of such communities differ considerably. In Lithuania, persons belonging to national minorities form about 0.5 million of the population. The state implements the policy of harmonious national relations and takes into account a necessity of satisfaction of lawful interests of various national communities. So, the comparison of the funds allotted for said two goals is groundless.
In addition to the expenses related to ensuring education of Polish national minority in the vernacular language (maintenance of school, publication of manuals), the Government of Lithuania (the Department) allots additionally about 100 thousand Litas for supporting educational and cultural projects of nongovernmental organizations of Polish national minority annually and 10-12 thousand Litas for supporting the activities of Sunday schools for Polish national minority. Support for educational and cultural projects as well as newspapers and online media of Polish national minority is provided by municipal budgets of Vilnius City as well as Vilnius, Šalčininkai and other Districts. It should be noted that several centers for national minorities (such as Vilnius House of National Communities, Kaunas Cultural Center of Various Nations, National Minorities’ Folklore and Ethnography Center of Lithuania) are financed by the state; at the said centers, nongovernmental organizations of national minorities, including Polish national minority, are provided an opportunity of using the premises and communication services free of charge.
In Lithuania, 5 periodicals and magazines in Polish are published; in addition, on-line publications are issued as well. Each Tuesday, Lithuanian Television broadcasts 15-minute programme for national minorities “The Crossway of Cultures. Vilnius Album” that is repeated by the second channel of the national television on Fridays. Radio station “Klasika” provides a broadcast in Polish daily between 03:30 and 04:00 h PM. Since the year 1992, independent radio station “ZNAD WILII” transmits broadcasts in Polish round the clock.
In addition, actualities of the Polish community are published in quarterly Tautinių bendrijų biuletenis /The Bulletin of National Communities/ financed by the Department.
It is notable that official information in websites of self-governments of Vilnius County (Šalčininkai, Trakai, Švenčionys and so on) is provided both in the state language and the languages of national minorities (including Polish).
According to the official data of the population census in the year 2003, 5.8 thousand Lithuanians reside in Poland (a majority - in Seiny and Puńsk Regions). According to the data provided by Lithuanian community in Poland, the number of residents of Lithuanian origin in Poland can be between 10 thousand and 13 thousand.
The data on the situation of Lithuanian national minority in Poland
Education
It should be noted that in course of implementing the reform of education in Poland, the number of schools with teaching in Lithuanian is reducing: within 10 years from the start of the reform of education in Poland, the opportunities of learning in Lithuanian or frequenting lessons of Lithuanian became considerably worse for children of local Lithuanians, because within the said period, the processes of optimization of education impacted the activities of 6 educational institutions for Lithuanians in one way or another. The number of Lithuanian schools in Poland halved, as compared to the year 1998.
The problems of Polish citizens of Lithuanian origin in the sphere of education:
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School financing from the budget of Republic of Poland: according to valid laws of Republic of Poland, pupils of small national school should be provided a larger pupil’s basket. However, Seiny ”Žiburys“ school for Lithuanians (that started its activities in 2005) did not receive an increased financing up to the year 2007.
The received pupil’s basket is not sufficient for maintenance of the schools because national schools are not large (the amount for maintenance of schools is allotted according to the number of its pupils). So, the lacking amount is allotted annually for Seiny ”Žiburys“ school from Lithuanian state budget via the Department. Seiny Municipality would be able to provide a supplemental financing; however, it does not use this opportunity.
The problem of financing of pupils of Seiny ”Žiburys“ school that will come to it in the new school-year is not settled as well: the Ministry of Education of Republic of Poland plans funds for education new pupils and allots them via Seiny Municipality in the beginning of a calendar year only; in the reality, a delay of some months takes place. The problem of financing kindergartens out of Seiny Municipality is not settled as well: no financing is allotted for children frequenting the said kindergartens and funds for their maintenance are obtained from Lithuania.
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After implementation of the education reform in Poland, state inspections and examinations will be arranged after each stage of teaching. After completion of the basic school, inspection of achievements shall be arranged. Pupils shall choose a language for performing tasks of such inspections. If a pupil chooses Lithuanian, his/her achievements in the subjects taught in Polish (such as Polish language and literature, Polish history and geography) will be inspected in Lithuanian. If a pupil chooses Lithuanian for examinations, the tasks of them will be provided in Polish. Bilingualism and the difficulties appearing on translating the tasks force pupils to pass inspections and examinations in Polish. An examination in Lithuanian is passed on leaving a lyceum only. Inspection of skills in Lithuanian takes place neither on leaving a basic school nor a gymnasium. There is no opportunity of developing tests for preparation for examination in Lithuanian because sufficient funds are not allotted for their translation.
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Although the Ministry of Education of Republic of Poland had approved the strategy of education of Lithuanians, the procedure of its implementation was not foreseen.
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The problem of publishing manuals in Lithuanian was not settled; it should be pointed out that a lack of Lithuanian textbooks and manuals of Lithuanian history and geography in Lithuanian takes place. In 2009, implementation of the new education reform was started in Poland; simultaneously, curriculums and textbooks & manuals are being replaces as well. However, national schools for Lithuanians are not provided with textbooks & manuals required according to the new education reform.
Public use of the language of the national minority
It should be noted that a commemoration of historical heritage bound with Lithuania-related facts, such as memorials plaques with bilingual inscriptions “Šaltinis” Printing-house“, „Seiny Theological College“ and „Bishop‘s Palace“, is protracted in Seiny.
The Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad under the Government of Republic of Lithuania
October 2009
