The situation of a Polish minority in Lithuania – past and present

During the Polish-Lithuanian Union (1385–1795) Polish nobles, clergy, merchants and townspeople were moved to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This period was negatively assessed by the Lithuanian society because of “polonization” and anarchy. After the First World War, Poles found themselves in a difficult situation in Lithuania. The Lithuanians did not want to reunite with our country and repressed the Polish minority living in the vicinity of Vilnius. Poles were thrown out of flats, Polish schools were closed, and Polish symbols were destroyed. Oppression intensified during World War II, when Lithuania collaborated with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, wanting to deport Poles from the Vilnius region. Despite the signing by Poland and Lithuania of the “Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good Neighborly Cooperation” in 1994, the situation of the Polish minority is still difficult. Lithuanians violate a number of our minority rights, such as the right to their own education (Article 15 of the Treaty), first and last name (Article 14), bilingual signs to short-circuit towns inhabited by the Polish minority (Article 13 paragraph 2 and Article 15), the right to participate in public life (Article 14), the prohibition of discrimination and assimilation (Article 15), religious rights (Article 13 (2), Article 14 and Article 15) and the right to have own memorial sites (art. 23)