Identities of and Policies Towards the Polish National Minority in Lithuania

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the multi-layered intersecting identities of the Polish national minority in Lithuania and analyses the impact of national, local, and foreign policies on the accommodation and identities of this minority. The paper examines policies of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania at the national level, policies of the political party Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania—Christian Families Alliance (LLRA-KŠS), (a governing political party in the south-eastern municipalities of Lithuania where ethnic Poles comprise a significant part of the population) at the municipal level, and the kin-state policies of the Government of the Republic of Poland. The paper argues that due to certain specific characteristics of the Polish national minority as well as certain policies that are applied towards it, in the short term it is not possible to predict either a strong identification with Lithuania or a strong trans-sovereign identification with Poland. One of the most important factors for the survival of this minority are schools with the Polish language of instruction. Nevertheless, the impact of this factor is twofold: on the one hand, these schools have a direct influence on the reproduction of Polish national identity; yet, on the other, they may re-create social cleavage and prevent the formation of a wider civic Lithuanian identity. Attachment to the Russian language and Russian media adds an additional important layer that shapes the identities and attitudes of the minority. However, the most solid layer within the multi-layered identity of this minority remains identification with locality (a certain village or town, or the Vilnius region in general).