Lithuanian ruling party opposes diacritic marks in personal names

Lithuania’s ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union will not support proposals to legalise the use of diacritic marks in personal names, party leader Aurelijus Veryga said on Tuesday, as reported by BNS.

Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė, representing the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance (LLRA-KŠS), has reiterated her intention to push for the legalisation of diacritic marks in the spelling of ethnic minority names. The two parties form a joint parliamentary faction within the governing coalition.

“The Farmers and Greens will definitely not support these matters and will not vote for them, but our colleagues from LLRA-KŠS are aware of our position, and this is probably the only point where our opinions differ—on language, on orthography,” Veryga told Žinių Radijas.

He added, jokingly, that if the parties agreed on everything, they would be one party, but noted that they remain a coalition of two distinct parties.

Veryga also stated he was not concerned that voters might associate the diacritic marks issue with the Farmers and Greens, as it is not a new initiative in this term.

Current Lithuanian law requires that personal names in official documents be written using the Latin alphabet without diacritic marks, though it permits the use of letters such as “x,” “q,” or “w.”

According to BNS, citing 2021 census data, Lithuania’s population of 2.81 million includes 432,000 ethnic minorities, with Poles making up the largest group at approximately 183,400 (6.5%), followed by Russians at 141,100 (5%). Belarusians, Ukrainians, and other groups each constitute around 1% or less.