Olekas urges Vilnius to serve Ukrainians and Belarusians in their languages

Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas has urged Vilnius to find a compromise allowing Ukrainians and Belarusians arriving in the city to communicate in their own languages, LRT reported.

Olekas said official communication should use Lithuanian, but Ukrainians and Belarusians should not necessarily be forced to speak Russian. He told Žinių radijas on Wednesday that newcomers could be received in their own language, while those planning to stay in Lithuania longer should learn Lithuanian.

He said the capital should expand opportunities for foreign arrivals to learn the language, noting that people who had fled war or a regime did not always have sufficient access to Lithuanian-language classes. He added that some had learned to speak Lithuanian well within one or two years.

Vilnius Municipality announced last week that it would no longer accept residents’ written requests and complaints in Russian. Information in Russian and other non-EU languages will be provided orally if a particular employee speaks them. Russian has also been removed from the municipal website and its customer queue management system.

The municipality has said the decision is part of its ongoing policy. It also plans to train more than 1,000 foreign-origin residents through free courses and online training this year, supported by an additional 300,000 euros in funding.

Language clubs are due to begin operating at different locations in the capital in the autumn. By the end of the year, foreigners living in Vilnius are also expected to have access to a dedicated platform for independent Lithuanian-language study.