Landsbergis: necessary to implement Lithuanian-Polish plan on cooperation in education

VILNIUS – Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Monday talked about the necessity to implement a plan on cooperation between Lithuania and Poland in education as he visited Sejny, a town in North-Eastern Poland that is home to a large Lithuanian community.

In Sejny, Landsbergis met with the heads of organizations of the Lithuanians in Poland, educational and cultural establishments.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Lithuanians living in Poland specified the most acute problems related with the studies of the Lithuanian language and literature, such as a decrease in the number of Lithuanian schools, shortage of high-quality textbooks in the Lithuanian language, insufficient funding of educational establishments.

The minister emphasized that “it is necessary to ensure practical implementation of an action plan on cooperation in education, which has been signed by education ministers of both countries” and provided for adequate financing of Lithuanian schools by Polish municipalities.

Poland is home to around 5,000 Lithuanians. Most of them live in the Sejny and Punsk region.