Lithuanian lawmakers on Thursday voted to abolish the Desovietisation Commission, shifting the power to rename streets and squares or remove monuments linked to totalitarian or authoritarian regimes to local authorities.
The motion, proposed by the ruling Social Democrats, passed with 61 votes in favour, 37 against and six abstentions. The bill will now be reviewed by Seimas committees.
“We believe that the commission has done its job and that local authorities could continue the work based on the content of the law,” said Darius Jakavičius, chair of the Seimas Commission for the Rights and Affairs of Participants of Resistance to Occupation Regimes and Victims of Occupation, who introduced the proposal.
Under the draft amendments, municipalities would be responsible for identifying public objects that promote totalitarian or authoritarian regimes and their ideologies. Local authorities would gather information, review requests from residents or organisations, and make a decision within six months.
If municipalities lack sufficient information to assess whether a monument or name violates the law, they could request a historical and archival certificate from the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania.
The bill would render the Desovietisation Commission unnecessary, and the Seimas resolution establishing it would be declared invalid.
A ban on the promotion of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes took effect in Lithuania in May 2023. It requires the removal of symbols of totalitarianism and authoritarianism – including monuments, street and square names, and other public objects – from public spaces.
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