Lithuania - January 2025

On 1 January, a new Law on National Minorities entered into force, 15 years after the previous law on national minorities expired in 2010. Parliament approved the new law in November 2024 with 67 votes in favour and four abstentions. Lithuania is home to around 432,000 members of national minorities according to a 2021 census, including Poles, Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Jews, Tatars and Roma, among others. The law guarantees national minorities can use their languages without restriction in private and public life, including to receive education and to disseminate information via mass media in their languages. The law also provides for the right to form political organizations and establishes the Council of National Minorities to represent the interests of national minorities in cultural, social and economic issues.  

Sources: LRT (1), LRT (2), Department of National Minorities (1), Department of National Minorities (2), Council of Europe, Seimas