Lithuania’s Culture Minister, Lukas Alsys, called for a systematic shift away from the use of Russian language in public administration, BNS reported. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Alsys stressed that government institutions and municipalities in Lithuania communicated in the state language, Lithuanian. However, the policy of phasing out Russian should take into account the needs of national minorities and Ukrainian refugees, he added. Earlier, the municipal government of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, announced that it would no longer accept written applications and complaints in Russian, BNS reported. Also, the municipality removed Russian content from its website and online services. Meanwhile, many state institutions in Lithuania, including the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI) and the State Social Insurance Fund (SoDra), will continue to offer service support in Russian, LRT reports.
Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius and Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginiene criticised the Vilnius municipality’s decision, BNS reported. Sinkevicius suggested that the move was motivated by political considerations. Speaking to Ziniu Radijas, Ruginiene warned that the policy risked exacerbating social exclusion. She noted that some city residents, especially elderly people, still communicated mainly in Russian. Around 10% of Vilnius residents are Russians. Parliamentary speaker Juozas Olekas urged Vilnius to find a compromise that would allow Ukrainians and Belarusians to communicate with city authorities in their native languages, BNS reported. Vilnius mayor Valdas Benkunskas insisted that the city was consistently implementing a decision to strengthen the use of the state language in public services. “The use of Russian reflects a certain complacency that needs to be addressed,” he argued.