Protest held in Vilnius in support of language chief and Lithuanian language

A protest titled “We Will Defend Valotka and the Lithuanian Language” took place in Vilnius on Wednesday, with demonstrators rallying against what they call the political persecution of Audrius Valotka, head of the State Language Inspectorate (VKI), and the alleged undermining of the Lithuanian language, LRT reports.

Around 50 people gathered in Vincas Kudirka Square, holding flags and signs with slogans such as “Hands off the Lithuanian language” and “Let’s reclaim the right to live without censorship.” Protesters accused authorities of systematically diminishing the status of the state language and removing it from public life.

Ona Eltai, one of the participants, said she came to defend Lithuanian as the official language. “The status of the state language is being reduced day by day. Now it is being narrowed, its use is being restricted,” she stated.

Some attendees dismissed the criticism against Valotka as unfounded, attributing it to an overly sensitive society. “People are too sensitive these days, they take everything to heart. The man didn’t say anything bad, no tragedy happened,” said a Vilnius resident named Osvaldas.

Organisers of the protest, part of the civic movement Tautos forumas (Nation’s Forum), claimed Valotka’s case reflects a broader trend of removing “patriotic officials” from public service. “There is a real threat that Valotka, who firmly enforces the State Language Law and defends the Lithuanian language, will be replaced by a compliant official who bends to ideological and political pressures,” they stated in an earlier release.

The controversy around Valotka intensified in March after he publicly stated that the words “negras” (a term considered offensive for Black people) and “čigonas” (a derogatory term for Romani people) were permissible in Lithuanian. The Ministry of Culture strongly condemned the remarks, launching an internal ethics investigation. While the Chief Official Ethics Commission declined to open a formal inquiry, a special ministry panel proposed issuing Valotka an official reprimand—a recommendation later approved by Culture Minister Vaida Aleknavičienė.

This is not the first time Valotka has faced backlash. In May 2023, 16 human rights organisations urged the then-culture minister not to appoint him as VKI head, citing allegations of xenophobic rhetoric against national minorities and migrants. That August, he received a formal warning for comments calling for the elimination of Polish-language schools in Lithuania. In October 2023, he was reprimanded again, this time for remarks about cancer patients allegedly “speaking in čiurkų [a pejorative term] languages,” though Valotka later claimed he had said “tiurkų” (Turkic) instead.

Earlier criticism also targeted his statements on LRT radio, where he argued that Polish-language village signs in the Vilnius region marked “historical occupied territory” and violated Lithuanian law, demanding their removal.