The Polish community of Lithuania has lost its battle to have names spelled in Polish fashion on passports, following a ruling by the Lithuanian Constitutional Court that has decided that names using Polish spelling may not appear on the front of official ID. “This is a sign that Lithuanians still lack the will to resolve the matter,” complains MEP Waldemar Tomaszewski, (AKA Valdemar Tomaševski in Lithuanian) the head of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania who has promised to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Despite promises made by consecutive Lithuanian governments and the country’s president, the question, ongoing since 1994, still continues to cloud relations between Warsaw and Vilnius. As Rzeczpospolita duly notes, Lithuanians living in Poland are free to write their names using Lithuanian characters.
Was this article useful? If so we are delighted!
It is freely available because we believe that the right to free and independent information is essential for democracy. But this right is not guaranteed forever, and independence comes at a cost. We need your support in order to continue publishing independent, multilingual news for all Europeans.
Discover our subscription offers and their exclusive benefits and become a member of our community now!