Integration of Ethnic Minorities in the Context of Ethnic Policies in Lithuania (2010-2015)

Abstract

The article seeks to highlight some trends of integration policy of ethnic minorities in Lithuania. Although all the major political parties declare the goal of ensuring equal opportunities for citizens to participate in public life and maintain ethnic identity, a lack of coherent strategy can be observed in practice. Integration of ethnic minorities is often perceived by Lithuanian legislative and governmental institutions as the ensuring of the right to cultural self-expression on one hand, and the inclusion into the culture of majority on the other. However, much less attention is paid to the specific social needs that can be also important in the process of integration of ethnic minorities (for example, extension of collective language rights, etc.). The author argues that the lack of attention to those kinds of needs in Lithuanian ethnic policies in 2010-2015 led to the increase of social distance between the national majority and some of the ethnic minorities and served as a serious obstacle to the improvement of intercultural dialogue.