{"id":812,"date":"2025-07-26T00:38:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T00:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=812"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:49:34","slug":"ukrainians-making-russian-more-common-in-eu-state-official-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/26\/ukrainians-making-russian-more-common-in-eu-state-official-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainians making Russian more common in EU state \u2013 official"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lithuanian government has warned against incitement targeting those who speak the language<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukrainian refugees have contributed to the growing use of the Russian language in Lithuania, a senior official in the Baltic state has said.<\/p>\n

For centuries, Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire, and between 1940 and 1991, it was a republic within the Soviet Union. Ethnic Russians make up around 5% of the country\u2019s population of 2.89 million.<\/p>\n

Approximately 60% of Lithuanian citizens are fluent in Russian, and nearly all Ukrainians understand the language to some extent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the arrival of refugees from Ukraine, as well as migrants from Central Asia and other countries, Russian is being heard more often in public places,\u201d<\/em> Dainius Babilas, head of the Department of National Minorities, said on Friday.<\/p>\n

Babilas urged the public not to exploit the issue of language to sow division. \u201cWe encourage society\u2019s opinion leaders \u2026 to ensure that the well-intentioned goal of strengthening the national language does not become a vehicle for inciting hatred or creating social divides, which would weaken the resilience of the state and civil society,\u201d<\/em> he said, according to national broadcaster LRT.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Council of Europe censures EU state for treatment of Russian speakers<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Language has remained a point of contention since Lithuania regained independence, with politicians and activists from the Russian-speaking community pushing back against efforts to stigmatize their native tongue and limit its role in public life and education.<\/p>\n

The influx of Ukrainians has also posed challenges for schools and the enforcement of labor laws, which require a basic knowledge of Lithuanian. In a viral Facebook post last month,\u00a0veteran journalist Edmundas Jakilaitis wrote: \u201cThe prevalence of Russian in Vilnius has become intolerable. The language is everywhere. How are we supposed to reclaim the capital now?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lithuania is among the most vocal supporters of Ukraine in the EU and has consistently called for tougher sanctions on Moscow and increased military aid to Kiev.<\/p>\n

Unlike its Baltic peers, Lithuania\u00a0granted citizenship to all its residents regardless of ethnicity or language following the break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. However, despite this measure and a rising standard of living, the country has lost almost one quarter of its population since 1991, prompting heated debates about the desirability of immigration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lithuanian government has warned against incitement targeting those who speak the language Ukrainian refugees have contributed to the growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":820,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}