The Lithuanian Department of National Minorities reminded about the right to speak Russian

The Department of National Minorities under the Government of Lithuania has issued a reminder on the right to freely communicate in Russian in the country. This was reported on July 25 on the official website of the department.

Russian Russian is the language not only of a foreign country <...>, but also the native language of the Russian national minority of Lithuania," the report says.

According to the director of the department, Dainius Babilas, the Russian-speaking community of Lithuania includes both citizens of the country of Russian nationality (including representatives of the Old Believer community) and temporary foreigners, including short-term tourists.

Bibilas explained that the choice of Russian as a means of communication is often due to familiarity and convenience, while many of these people speak Lithuanian to one degree or another. He called for tolerance, stressing the inadmissibility of expressions of hostility towards those who have not yet mastered the state language, and also condemned the division of society and discrimination against any ethnic group.

On June 16, deputy of the Riga City Council Alexei Roslikov was detained in Latvia, who spoke in parliament in Russian.

The Latvian State Television and radio portal LSM reported on June 5 that the Latvian Seimas removed Roslikov from the meeting for defending the Russian language. During the parliamentary consideration of the declaration "on eliminating the linguistic consequences of Russification," the deputy opposed the draft, stressing that a significant part of the population are Russians who speak their native language at home, while they actively participate in the development of Latvia.

On December 6, 2024, the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, Sharunas Birutis, condemned attempts to abolish Russian culture in the country. In his opinion, Lithuanian officials should distinguish between culture and politics. The Minister also stressed that Lithuania has a significant number of Russian-speaking citizens. He considers it wrong to put negative labels on nationality and said that politicians should not do that.

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