The calendar contains an historical map of Lithuania with borders
extending into present day Russia, Belarus and Poland; these
territories are described as "temporarily occupied ethnic lands of
Lithuania."
As with many European countries, history has replatted Lithuania's
borders with its neighbours several times during the 20th century,
reflecting the political and military realities of the day.
Especially after World War II, geographic dislocations occurred on
all sides. People of differing Slavic and Baltic ethnicities were
suddenly living in different countries. Today's Lithuania is a
cosmopolitan republic of roughly 3.7 million inhabitants of which 81
percent are ethnically Lithuanian, 8.5 percent Russian, 7 percent
Polish and 1.5 percent Belarusian.
In an ELTA news agency report on Jan. 13, all three embassies
quickly criticised the calendar as an impediment to good neighborly
relations. Poland asked for a halt in calendar sales. Russia's
embassy viewed it as "obviously provocative and kindling national
hatred and discord." Belarus accepted the Lithuanian Foreign
Ministry's assurances that the map was not a reflection of the
country's foreign policy, and the publisher was not state-supported,
saying it hoped Lithuania would prohibit similar publications in the
future.
The Lithuanian prosecutor general's office initiated an inquiry by
order of Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.
Politicians in Lithuania quickly downplayed the calendar's significance.
"This is not an important international issue, and one mustn't
overplay its significance" said Rimantas Smetona, chairman of the
National Democratic Party. "We observe the release of similar
publications by radicals in Poland from time to time and, despite
their unpleasant nature, we overlook them as they have nothing to do
with Poland's official foreign policy."
This is a reference to a long-standing academic debate as to whether
Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, is a historical part of Poland or
Lithuania.
Poland annexed Vilnius in 1920, a provisional capital was established
in Kaunas during the inter-war years, and Vilnius was re-incorporated
into Lithuania in 1939.
"This calendar does not represent a call to arms" he said in
reference to the ethnic conflicts that have plagued the former
Yugoslavia in the last decade.
He also said "this is a simple case of a private citizen expressing
her views. We are a democratic society, and we must defend a person's
right to free speech even if we disagree with it."
This view was echoed by Rimantas Dagys, parliamentary deputy chairman
who said that "this issue has been blown out of proportion, the
calendar was privately published, Lithuania has no territorial claims
on its neighbours' lands and we see analogous publications released
by extremist minorities in their countries."
"A small segment of the Lithuanian population, around 1 to 2 percent,
are still living with a pre-World War II world-view" said Gediminas
Vitkus, associate professor at the International Relations Department
of Vilnius University, "this type of calendar appeals to them. They
belong to an older generation that suffered through the war and the
Stalinist period, have strong conservative leanings, and these
historical border questions are more relevant to them." The same is
true for a small segment of the Polish population for whom Vilnius is
still a Polish city.
"Leave questions of ethnic historical borders to the historians. This
is our bread and butter" said Arturas Dubonis, researcher at the
History Institute at Vilnius University. "This is not a present-day
political question. Our present borders with all our neighbours are
ratified by treaties, and this sort of calendar is nothing but
silliness and should be ignored. Unfortunately a small group of
people continues to take this type of thing seriously." He added
that the Polish-Lithuanian border is on its way to being a European
Union border; Lithuanians in Poland and Poles in Lithuania will be
able to continue living in their respective countries without fearing
the loss of their languages or ethnic identities.
Greater concern about the calendar's contents came from Lithuania's
Department of Ethnic Minorities and Expatriates.
"The calendar issued by Balsyte's Metskaitliai publishing company is
inflammatory and provocative" said the department's director,
Remigijus Motuzas. "I have been following her calendars since 1997,
and they have steadily been growing in outrageousness. It's not just
the map. There are 'satirical' entries for every day of the year that
attack not only Poles, Russians and Belarusians but also Jews and
Lithuanians. The primitive views expressed in this calendar aim at
destabilizing the whole of Lithuanian society."
He said that one problem is that most politicians don't have the time
to read it through carefully and added that the question of free
speech is not anßß issue. He said the calendar is so derogatory
towards all ethnicities that it should be investigated as a hate
crime.
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