Sikorski: time for action in Polish-Lithuanian relations, PAP dispatch
"Poland and Lithuania have done a lot of talking about their mutual relations, but the time has come for action to solve at least one of our problems," says Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. He suspects, however, that Prime Minister Donald Tusk will wish to speak with Lithuania’s Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius.
On Saturday, the Lithuanian prime minister raised the subject of a potential meeting with Tusk. Butkevičius emphasized that he would like to meet with the head of Poland’s government as soon as possible to discuss the two countries’ relations, which have been strained by misunderstandings surrounding the Polish minority living in Lithuania.
"It’s nice to hear that the Lithuanian prime minister is ready to meet and talk, but it would be even nicer if Lithuania solved at least one of the problems that have been swelling up over the past 20 years," underscored Sikorski at a press conference in Brussels on Monday, in response to a question about whether such a meeting could take place.
The chief of Polish diplomacy said "there has been a great deal of discussions and clarification of issues, but the time has come to act. It would be a good introduction to the meeting that should take place, if at least one of those very well documented problems was solved," Sikorski admitted.
In his view, the situation of the Polish minority in Lithuania has not improved, but has deteriorated. The Minister has pointed out that the Lithuanian Act on National Minorities has ceased to apply.
"This is the reason why we have such outrageous administrative fines for things that should be financed out of the state budget," said Sikorski referring to bilingual street signs. "Minorities instead of support get fines," he added.
Late last year a court in Vilnius fined Bolesław Daszkiewicz, the director of the administration of the Soleczniki local government administration, 43,400 Lithuanian litas (approx. EUR 12,500) for failing to remove bi-lingual (Polish and Lithuanian) street signs located on private property.
The government’s spokesperson, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, said during the weekend that Mr Tusk had not yet received any official request for a meeting from his Lithuanian counterpart, but, she added that he would be pleased to meet with the Lithuanian prime minister.
She also recalled that the Polish prime minister met with the heads of the governments of the Baltic countries in Tallinn and also talked with Butkevičius. (PAP)
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