LITHUANIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS SUGGESTS TO SPEED-UP THE RESOLUTION OF A LEGAL COLLISION REGARDING STREET NAMES IN THE LANGUAGES OF NATIONAL MINORITIES
In Lithuania, there are discussions again regarding street names in non-official languages in certain municipalities of Lithuania, where representatives of national minorities live compactly. We are calling attention to the fact that this issue rises due to the contradictory provisions in the legal acts of Lithuania - the Law on the State Language and the Law on National Minorities.
As is known, the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, ratified by the Seimas, is legally binding in Lithuania. Article 11 of the Convention constitutes the provision for the adoption of non-official languages in street names in the territories, which are traditionally compactly settled by national minorities.
Within the framework of the Law on National Minorities, Article 5 constitutes the provision that in territorial-administrative units, where persons belonging to a national minority live compactly, they shall be granted the right to use the language of their national minority in street names, besides the Lithuanian language. However, Article 17 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the State Language constitutes the provision that in the Republic of Lithuania public signs shall be in the state language.
Article 11 of the Law on International Treaties of the Republic of Lithuania constitutes the provision that: if ratified and effective in the Republic of Lithuania international treaty establishes norms other than those established by valid laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts, then the provisions of the international treaty shall apply.
Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds the opinion that until the contradictory provisions are not eliminated from the legal acts of Lithuania, no hurried decisions should be made regarding the sore issues of national minorities. Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas will address the Seimas officially, suggesting that the aforementioned legal acts of Lithuania should be harmonised, in order to eliminate the contradictory provisions that they contain.
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