The Act on National Minorities in Lithuania adopted – a symbolic step without comprehensive solutions and guarantees of rights

On November 7, 2024, the Lithuanian Seimas passed the Act on National Minorities. The adoption of the act had been long awaited by representatives of national minorities as well as by human rights organizations such as the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR), which has been advocating for comprehensive regulations on this issue for years.

Legislative Background: Historical Context and Longstanding Deficiencies

Since 2010, Lithuania has been without a law on national minorities. The previous legal act, adopted in 1989, expired, and subsequent attempts to create new legislation were hindered by a lack of political will. As a result, the rights and freedoms of minorities, as well as their protection, were regulated by various documents, such as the laws on education or the state language. These laws not only failed to guarantee minorities their entitled rights but also made it impossible to identify minorities due to the absence of systemic regulation that would even define them.

The lack of comprehensive legal frameworks for the protection of minorities was noted by international organizations, and Lithuania was regularly urged to adopt such regulations. Recommendations to this effect can be found, for instance, in the 2013 Advisory Committee Recommendation of the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. For years, the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) has also emphasized the urgent need to adopt new legislation. The EFHR pointed out that the absence of such regulation places Lithuania in an unfavorable light on the international stage and raises concerns about its genuine commitment to human rights protection. (More information on this can be found here.)

On September 27, 2023, the EFHR also submitted an alternative report on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in Lithuania, covering the period from 2016 to 2021. The document was sent to the Council of Europe, which oversees compliance with the Convention (more information can be found here). The report evaluates the implementation of the Framework Convention by the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. It highlights the absence of legislation protecting the rights of national minorities, as well as numerous issues related to discriminatory practices, hate speech, and limited access to education and media. (The full report can be accessed here: EFHR – Alternative Report). The EFHR also held a meeting with the Advisory Committee of the FCNM regarding the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities to highlight issues such as the lack of comprehensive regulation concerning minorities. (More about the meeting and EFHR’s proposals can be read here: Meeting with the Advisory Committee of the FCNM).

In all these efforts, the EFHR emphasized that the lack of a legal framework for the protection of national minorities in a country like Lithuania was unprecedented on a European scale. Among EU member states, only a few, such as France and Greece, have not adopted comprehensive laws regulating the legal status of minorities. However, these are countries whose migration policies deny the existence of national minorities, making their cases a matter of global discussion. According to the 2021 Census of Population and Housing of the Republic of Lithuania, the country is home to 2.81 million people, of whom 432,000 are representatives of national minorities, accounting for 15.4% of the population. The largest national minority are Poles, who make up 6.5% of Lithuania’s population. Such a social structure underscores the need to establish a legal framework that provides national minorities with greater protection and guarantees their rights. However, for years, no relevant document was in force, nor were several other laws required by international law.

Work on the Draft Law and Its Adoption

Work on the draft law, delayed by a lack of political will, only began to progress at the end of the last decade. Between 2019 and 2020, a working group comprising representatives of national minorities, state institutions, and the legal community, convened by the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, developed a draft law on national minorities to address the gap created by the expiration of the previous law on national minorities in Lithuania.

The working group was led by Ewelina Dobrowolska, then a lawyer at the European Foundation of Human Rights and a member of the Vilnius City Council. However, it took another four long years before the law was adopted, and its final version lacks many significant provisions. (More about the work on the draft law can be found here.) The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Justice, and it was approved by 67 members of parliament, with four abstaining and none voting against. The majority of the opposition boycotted the vote, expressing their dissatisfaction with the final version of the law (voting results are available here). The law has now been submitted to the president for signing, and if the president signs the document, the law will come into effect on January 1, 2025.

Provisions of the Law

The new law on national minorities for the first time defines what a national minority is, separating policies related to minorities from migration policies. A national minority is defined as a group of Lithuanian citizens who have a distinct national identity and seek to preserve it, as well as having strong and lasting ties to Lithuania. The law emphasizes that the rights of national minorities differ from those of immigrants who are in the process of integrating into society. However, it does not specify when members of a given diaspora can be recognized as a minority.

The key provisions of the law concern:

1. The definition of a national minority: it includes only citizens of the Republic of Lithuania residing within its territory, who have a national identity different from Lithuanian and seek to preserve it. The minority must have long-lasting, strong, and enduring ties to the country, and its population is smaller than that of the part of the population of the Republic of Lithuania that identifies as Lithuanian. The law also introduces the concept of historical minorities, which are those at risk or without a historical homeland with which they can currently identify—such as the Roma, Karaim, or Tatars.
2. The definition of national identity: it is outlined in the law as any chosen identification of a person with the nationality of one of their parents or grandparents, based on the entirety of its characteristic traits—such as culture, language, traditions, and customs—or at least one of these traits.
3. The rights to preserve national identity: The law guarantees national minorities the right to maintain their identity, culture, traditions, language, and education. It ensures that individuals who declare belonging to a national minority will not be discriminated against. The law allows them to freely use their minority language in both private and public life and grants the right to learn the minority language in schools.
4. Education: Children from national minorities will have the right to be educated in the languages of their national groups. Schools will be required to offer lessons in these languages, marking an important step toward educational equality.
5. National Minority Council: The law provides for the establishment of a National Minority Council, which will serve an advisory role, representing the interests of minorities to state and local authorities. It will also monitor the implementation of the provisions of the law.
6. Support for the integration and culture of minorities: The law imposes an obligation on the state to fund cultural projects that promote the integration of national minorities into Lithuanian society and support their traditions, language, and intercultural cooperation. Minorities are also guaranteed the right to create media in their languages.
7. Freedom of association: Individuals belonging to national minorities have the right to form organizations, participate in national and international associations, and engage in addressing cultural, social, or economic issues at various levels.
8. Language: The state ensures that representatives of national minorities can freely and without restriction use their language in both private and public situations, orally and in writing. In exercising this right, however, individuals belonging to minorities must follow with regulations governing the use of the state language.

A step forward, but with significant gaps

The new law on national minorities in Lithuania is undoubtedly an important step toward improving the situation of these groups in the country. The law offers hope for greater recognition of different national identities and allows for their preservation within the country. However, despite numerous positive reactions, the new law is not without criticism.

The provisions of the law have more symbolic significance and do not address the key issues facing national minorities. The text of the law is too declarative and does not regulate specific matters that are most important to representatives of minority groups. For many years, unresolved issues have included: educational matters, language rights (such as the spelling of bilingual names, the use of all Polish diacritical marks in names and surnames, as well as the use of the minority language in public life), and the involvement of national minorities in political, social, and cultural life, including appropriate and specifically guaranteed financial support. The law does not introduce any significant changes to the education system, which still does not fully meet the needs of national minorities.

The nature of the law is well illustrated by the provisions regarding language in the public sphere, which are framed as two mutually exclusive points. On one hand, the law allows the use of the minority language both privately and publicly, while on the other hand, it states that the implementation of this right cannot contradict the regulations concerning the state language, without specifying any rules that would allow the minority language to be used publicly in a manner consistent with other legal acts, effectively making no real change. These and other issues were raised by EFHR in the amendments it submitted to the draft law (available in Polish here: https://www.efhr.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Poprawki-do-projektu-ustawy-o-mniejszosciach-narodowych-zgloszone-przez-Europejska-Fundacje-Praw-Czlowieka.pdf and in Lithuanian here: https://www.efhr.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-04-23_Europos-zmogaus-teisiu-fondas_Pasiulymai-del-Lietuvos-Respublikos-tautiniu-mazumu-istatymo-projekto.pdf). 

Proposed amendments were primarily based on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe, ratified by Lithuania in 2000. The suggested amendments to the law on national minorities included, among others, the expansion of minority rights protection, social integration, the right to use the minority language in education and administration, and the possibility of using minority languages in place names. The amendments proposed by EFHR also addressed issues such as topographical signage in areas inhabited by national minorities (it is worth mentioning that similar regulations for national minorities have been adopted in Poland). They also included cultural support, the establishment of institutions working for the rights of minorities, and ensuring their operational capabilities. These amendments were intended to promote equality, combat discrimination, and strengthen intercultural dialogue. However, none of them were incorporated into the final version of the law.

Although the law represents an important step toward recognizing the rights of minorities, the lack of specific regulations raises concerns. The law is too general, and there is a risk that future implementing regulations, such as government resolutions, may negatively impact minorities.

The stance of the European Human Rights Foundation

The European Human Rights Foundation appreciates the adoption of the law, which separated the policy concerning national minorities from migration policy, acknowledging the existence of national and historical minorities in the Republic of Lithuania. The adoption of the bill is undoubtedly a step forward towards fuller integration of national minorities in the country. EFHR believes that the new regulations are only the foundation for further development of Lithuania’s integration policy and that they will be swiftly adapted to meet the needs of national minorities. The Foundation hopes that future drafts of the law will include provisions regarding the catalog of minority rights of a constitutional nature, fully realizing and implementing the provisions of international agreements and treaties on human rights and minority protection to which Lithuania is bound. It cannot be said that the rights of minorities are currently sufficiently legally protected. However, the European Human Rights Foundation believes that the adoption of the law in its current form is only the first step, and cooperation on this important issue will contribute to building a more open, tolerant, and just society.

Translated by Julia Falisz within the framework of a traineeship programme of the EFHR