Poland ‘regrets’ Lithuanian ambassador’s 'Polish disloyalty' statement
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
21.06.2011 12:57
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski (pictured) has expressed “regret” in response to a statement by Lithuanian Ambassador to Warsaw Loreta Zakareviciene, accusing ethnic Poles in Lithuania of disloyalty.
“I don’t know what is the bigger problem: the [ambassador’s] statement or that many Lithuanian politicians actually believe what she said,” Minister Sikorski told journalists in Brussels.
On Monday, Lithuanian ambassador in Warsaw Loreta Zakareviciene said, “Lithuanians living in Poland are loyal citizens - different to Poles in Lithuania.
“[In Lithuania] there are Russians, Belarusians, Jews, and they are all ‘more Lithuanian’ than the [ethnic] Poles [residing there],” Ambassador Zakareviciene told Baltic News Service agency.
The statement comes as relations between Poland and Lithuania remain tense, with the Polish government claiming that the rights of ethnic Poles in the Baltic state are being neglected by the Lithuanian government.
Complaints include the introduction of a new education bill threatening Polish language schooling.
Last year Poland’s Foreign Ministry described Polish-Lithuanian relations as “never being worse”. (ek/pg)