How Lithuania s ethnic minorities are faring during the pandemic – interview
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Orthodox and Catholic churches alternate in Vilnius skyline / M. Ambrazas
Throughout the world, the pandemic is said to have hit minority groups the hardest. What is the situation in Lithuania?
LRT Novosti spoke with Vida Montvydaitė, the head of the Department of National Minorities, about the challenges of the pandemic, the future of the Law on National Minorities and the high demand for the Lithuanian language courses organised by the department.
What was the last year like for national minorities in Lithuania?
Last year was doubtlessly hard for the entire country. Many plans had to be changed, in the daily activities of minority communities and projects funded by the Department of National Minorities. Some of the events were moved online, some were postponed or even cancelled.
Sursa foto: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor said that in the governance programme there are provisions regarding the adoption of a law on minorities and the lowering of the threshold below which the Hungarian language can be used in the relation with the public authorities, adding that 20% of the population of a locality is a too high threshold.
The UDMR Chairman added that the content of any of these topics has not yet been discussed in the ruling Coalition. In the governing programme, there is a chapter for minorities and many provisions in other chapters - education, culture and so on - and one thing is said there: the Law on National Minorities will be adopted as provided by the Romanian Constitution - which has not happened so far. (.) This is what it says in the governance programme and this is what it says in the Constitution, and it has been assumed by the Coalition that we will