European Parliament election 2014 in Lithuania –  participation of Polish minority

The article deals with the issues of the elections to the European Parliament (EP) in Lithuania, which took place in may 2014 year. Author’s research interest is the Polish minority in Lithuania, the largest ethnic group after the Lithuanians in the country. For many years, the representatives of the Polish minority were actively involved in different types of elections. At first by the Union of Poles in Lithuania (ZPL), and then by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL). The aim of the paper was to analyze the results of elections in Lithuania, with particular focus on the Vilnius region and AWPL participation. The main research material were the results of the elections presented by the Main Election Commission in Lithuania as well as documents related to the topic.

Linguistic rights of national minorities in Lithuania – aspects of the  situation of polish national minority (in the context of international  national minorities rights protection standards)

This article provides the review of the linguistic rights of national minorities in the practical aspects of the situation of polish national minority. The paper discusses the essential rights for the preservation of national identity: the right to use the language of national minority in communication with local authorities and in public, in the electoral process, in topographic indications, as well as the right to write names and surnames in the language of national minority. These rights are presented in the context of constitutional doctrine of state language protection, as it largely affects the content of mentioned rights of national minorities.