"We were notified of the action back on Friday and were told that the picket was held in protest of discriminatory education laws in Lithuania," the embassy's First Secretary Jurgita Jankiūnienė said on Monday.
In her words, the action took place between 11 AM and 12:15 PM on Sunday and involved about 35 people. No incidents were reported during the event.
The participants held slogans, saying “Leave Polish Schools Alone,” “Vilnius – Warsaw: A Common Matter” and “Polish Language in Polish Schools.” One more slogan said “Leave Land for Poland.”
In Jankiūnienė's words, the embassy received a letter, which said that the minority rights were ensured after Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, but they are not being followed now – Polish schools are being closed and there is no attention to Polish-language education.
Nearly a year ago, Lithuania's parliament passed a new version of the Education Law , which, among other things, stipulates a new teaching scheme of the Lithuanian language in minority schools – teaching more subjects in Lithuanian and unifying the graduation exams for 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.
