WRITTEN QUESTION E-1836/10
by Joanna Katarzyna Skrzydlewska (PPE) , Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska (PPE) and Artur Zasada (PPE)
to the Commission

The violations of minority rights reported by ethnic Poles in Lithuania are becoming increasingly disturbing. Around 300 000 Poles live in Šalčininkai and Vilnius and respectively account for more than 80 % and over 60 % of the population in those regions. Although the Poles are in the majority in those areas, they do not have the right to make public use of Polish as a working language. A court has ordered the people living in these areas to remove dual-language street signs.

Furthermore, Poles are being subject to the Lithuanisation of their surnames and they are being discriminated against in connection with land restitution, and on 26 August 2009 the Lithuanian Government adopted a resolution increasing the minimum number of pupils per class in national minority schools, which will result in the closure of more than 100 classes being taught in a minority language.

Will the Commission take any action in response to the violation by Lithuania of the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin?

OJ C 138 E, 07/05/2011