A panel set up by the culture minister has decided to reprimand Audrius Valotka, head of the State Language Inspectorate, over his public comments comparing Lithuania’s Polish-speaking districts with Russia’s occupation in Ukraine.
In mid-July, the minister set up a panel to assess the statements made by Valotka during an LRT RADIO discussion on Polish inscriptions in Vilnius District, during which he said that it did not matter that some residents wanted inscriptions in their native language.
“So what if they do? The Russians, let’s say, want Russian inscriptions in Donbas, they probably don’t want Ukrainian ones. This is an occupation zone where there has been a fierce Polonization of Lithuanians, so marking the whole territory with Polish inscriptions, I think, would lead to fierce resistance,” Valotka said.
Such statements provoked outrage from Vilnius District Mayor Robert Duchnevič and Polish Ambassador to Lithuania Konstanty Radziwiłł who asked the culture minister to assess the statements by the head of Lithuania’s State Language Inspectorate.
Culture Minister Simonas Kairys acknowledged on Tuesday that Valotka’s statements run counter to his duties, which are “quite limited”.
“The panel’s decision is that the inspector receives a reprimand,” Kairys said, adding that the reprimand could affect Valotka’s pay and bonuses, and he could face stricter punishment if the situation does not change.
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