Dateline: WARSAW, Feb 22, BNS
Some Polish lawmakers have called for actions of vengeance on Lithuania for "persecution of Lithuanian Poles" in the
country, suggests a record of a Polish parliamentary sitting of Feb. 17.
During a 40-minute discussion about the relations between Lithuania and
Poland, about 12 members of the Polish parliament censured the Lithuanian
administration for the restriction of the Polish minority in its rights in Lithuania.
"Doesn't the Polish government plan any retaliatory measures with
respect to Lithuania?," a member of the Left Democratic Union, Grzegorz Kurczuk, put up a rhetorical question.
"Does the Polish government make the use of the very good
Lithuanian-Polish political, economic and military relations as a
measure to press Lithuania in order to solve the problem of Lithuanian
Poles?," said another deputy of the party, Liongin Pastusiak.
MP Michal Tomasz asked Polish Foreign Minister Radislaw Sikorski if any
specific actions are being discussed against the state of Lithuania,
which "has been abusing Poland's pliant policy for the past ten years."
The Polish members of parliament who spoke at the sitting leveled
accusations at the actions of Lithuanian officials, which, in their
opinion, are aimed at limiting the rights of the Polish national
minority in Lithuania.
The Polish legislators believe that the persecution of Lithuanian Poles
is manifested "for the first time in the history" by the abolition of a
compulsory graduation exam of Polish language, unequal status of
Lithuanian and Polish schools [* see below], as well as the tardy
returning of land to Poles in the Vilnius area.
In response to a number of questions, the Polish foreign minister
reiterated that "the problems of Lithuanian Poles are in the focus of
the Foreign Ministry's attention."
Sikorski said that an international commission has been established to
solve educational problems, adding that "the number of students in
Polish schools doubled after Lithuania restored its independence."
The minister stated that "in spite of the existing problems, the
situation of Lithuanian Poles is good."
DISCLAIMER: The opinioned express below is that of Gintautas Kaminskas, not Lithuanian Global Resources.
We neither endorse or oppose Mr. Kaminskas' position.
2) In another generation there will be practically no youngsters in
Vilnius speaking Polish as a native language. This is only a natural
restoration of the historically Lithuanian character of the Vilnius
region.
3) What's the position of Lithuanian schools in the Polish-occupied
Suvalkai, Seinai and Punskas districts? And for that matter, how
many German schools in Polish-occupied German territory?
Dateline: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 08:15:39 +1100
If you wish to express your opinion,
WRITE THE EDITOR OF LABAS: Bernard Tirva.
1) There are no "Poles" in Lithuania, only Polish-speaking Lithuanian
citizens; and most of these are people of pure Lithuanian
ancestry whose predecessors were polonised in previous decades.
