Minister calls for tougher Lithuanian language rules for foreigners

Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas has called for stricter Lithuanian language requirements for foreigners arriving in Lithuania, saying the country must also address the integration of people already living there, LRT reported.

He said reducing the use of Russian should involve more than limiting services in that language. New arrivals, he suggested, should be required to learn Lithuanian to a specified level within a set period.

“Even if a person who has arrived learns Lithuanian, they may still speak Russian with their compatriots. This raises the broader question of whom we let into our country,” Katelynas told reporters in parliament on Monday.

He added that some Lithuanian citizens who had lived in an independent Lithuania for 36 years still struggled to speak the language, describing this as an indication of the education system’s performance.

Last week, the Vilnius municipality said it was expanding opportunities to learn Lithuanian and reducing the use of Russian in education and public services under its integration plan for residents of foreign origin.

Since this year, primary education for children of non-European Union citizens has been organised only in Lithuanian, while Lithuanian-language lessons have been increased in schools for national minorities. Over the past three years, the number of Russian-language preschool groups in the capital has fallen from 181 to 112.

The municipality has also removed the Russian version of its website and Russian from its customer queue-management system. Requests and complaints in Russian will no longer be accepted. Residents may receive information orally in Russian or other non-EU languages when necessary, depending on employees’ language skills.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said it was still too early to assess the decision, adding that it was unclear whether it represented a principled position or a communications measure.