In a press release published in the Lithuanian and Polish languages on its website niepodlegli.net, the organization said that Lithuanians are a brotherly nation, and the neighboring ties should be based on respect for national identity.
"The primary goal of our trip is to see the Lithuanian capital, its heritage and to visit the Gates of Dawn. We also want to meet with local Poles who are holding a protest rally on that day in an effort to defend the school system. The association Marsz Niepodleglosci is organizing the trip on a single bus from Warsaw," reads the communiqué.
According to the press release, there is no information about other organized groups going to Vilnius on 17 March. The organization said the group would mainly include young people – school and university students and families.
"We believe that Lithuania and Poland are countries that should share friendship and partnership. We see Lithuanians as our brothers with whom we share a long and glorious history. We think that our good neighborly relations should be based on mutual values, respect to the identity of each nation, as well as minority rights of Lithuanians in Poland and Poles in Lithuania," said the organization.
The group held a Feat for Independence last year, on the occasion of Poland's Independence Day.
The demonstration in Warsaw on 11 November was attended by about 10,000 people, triggering mass disturbances. About 25 people, including nine police officers, were injured during clashes with the police, which had to use water bombs and tear gas. During the riot, which the authorities suspect were caused by football hooligans, participants set fire to cars and smashed showcases.
Representatives of the Polish national minorities in Lithuania have established a school strike committee and announced plans to hold a protest rally on 17 March to demand for revision of the plans to hold unified graduation examinations.
They protest against the new edition of the Education Law passed by Lithuania's Seimas nearly a year ago, which, among other things, stipulates a new teaching scheme of the Lithuanian language in minority schools – teaching of more subjects in Lithuanian and unifying the tasks of the graduation exam of the Lithuanian language as of 2013.
Nevertheless, the Polish minority demands that the earlier scheme be returned.
Lithuania's government maintains that the new model is among then most moderate in Europe, noting that other countries, including Poland, had enforced analogous provisions years ago.
