„I do not have such a clear and strict answer now whether it should or should not be (providing services in Russian – BNS),” the Prime Minister said to journalists in Vilnius on Wednesday.
“If it concerned Russian citizens, probably the answer would be different, but if it concerns freedom fighters who left the Belarusian regime, who perhaps do not speak other languages, or Ukrainians, then probably that attitude changes a bit,” he said.
He spoke this way after Vilnius city municipality announced on Tuesday that it will no longer accept residents’ requests and complaints in Russian in writing. Information in this and other non-European Union languages will be provided verbally if a specific employee speaks them.
M. Sinkevičius says it is unclear for what reasons this decision was made.
“I saw the initiative of Vilnius city municipality, it is difficult to evaluate it, (…) I saw a few comments that it seems to be a refusal, but if there are employees who understand the language, it seems that consultations in Russian will be provided,” the Prime Minister said. “It is not entirely clear whether this is a principled position or just a political or perhaps a communicative step.”
The fact that this decision is not entirely clear has also been stated by the chairman of the Democrats, Virginijus Sinkevičius.
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BNS reported that, according to the municipality, the Russian language was also abandoned on the website and in the administration’s client queue management system.
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said that the municipality is consistently implementing the decision made in spring to strengthen the use of the state language.
The municipality also announced expanding Lithuanian language learning opportunities for residents of foreign origin. This year, more than a thousand people are planned to be trained in free courses and remote learning, with an additional funding of 300 thousand euros allocated for this.
Also, language clubs will start operating in the capital in autumn, which will regularly operate in different parts of the city. By the end of this year, it is planned that foreigners living in Vilnius will be able to independently learn Lithuanian on a dedicated learning platform.
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