In the past, for centuries we were part of a single state - the Republic of the Two Nations. In the interwar period, the newly formed Republic of Lithuania was characterised by a strong aversion to Poland. In Lithuania, which was revived in 1990 after the years of Soviet occupation, our country was treated with great caution, and this was due to two reasons: the existence of a large Polish minority, especially surrounding the capital Vilnius, and the fear of an attempt at cultural domination by the much larger Poland. Today, however, this attitude has changed, and Lithuanians - both ordinary citizens and those in power - regard Poland as an important ally and a friendly country.

One of the key reasons for this change is the growing threat from Russia. There is a Russian minority in Lithuania (5 percent of the population) and, as is well known, Moscow claims the right to exercise 'care' over Russians living abroad. Kremlin politicians talk outright about the need to restore control over all territories that once belonged to the country - and thus Lithuania. How they can do this was demonstrated by 2014 and the seizure of Crimea and the fighting in the Donbass, and with particular acuity by the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine since February this year.

Meanwhile, it is through Poland that the Lithuanian road to Europe leads. Through the narrow 'Suwałki isthmus', bounded on the one hand by the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast and on the other by Belarus, which is Russia's ally.

Problems with the past and Poles

Unfortunately, since its establishment in 1918, the Republic of Lithuania found itself in a sharp territorial dispute with Poland - first of all over Vilnius and the Vilnius region, but also over Suwałki. General Lucjan Żeligowski's "revolt" and the annexation of Vilnius to Poland were treated with decided hostility, although before the war a very small group of Lithuanians had lived in this city. The border between our countries was marked not by poles but by sticks with panicles on their tips.

Anyway, everything that concerned Poland was treated with dislike. King Ladislaus Jagiello was even considered a traitor who needlessly allied with the Poles. The Polish-Lithuanian Union, a great success and pride for us, was not a reason for glory for the Lithuanians.

In post-war Soviet Lithuania, many Poles still lived. And today the Vilnius region is largely inhabited by our compatriots. According to the 2021 census, 183,000 Poles live in the whole of Lithuania, or 6.52 per cent of the total population. In Vilnius alone it is about 17 percent, while in the Šalčininkai region 78 percent (in the municipalities of Ejszyszki and Medniki over 93 percent), and in Vilnius region (without the city of Vilnius) 52 percent. There are about 100 schools with the Polish language of teaching; there is a daily newspaper "Kurier Wileński" and several weeklies; there are radio stations. The Vilnius TVP is broadcasting. The Union of Poles in Lithuania and the regional party Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania are active in several regions.

WAR IN UKRAINE

From the Lithuanians' point of view, the situation is difficult: their capital is surrounded by areas inhabited densely by the Polish national minority. The most nationalistically-minded argued that in fact they are not Poles, but "polonised Lithuanians". Problems with the spelling of Polish names lasted for years. Lithuanians are extremely sensitive about their language and fear that it will be dominated, even by Polish. Hence the tendency to Lithuanianize surnames. For example, Adam Mickiewicz is Adomas Mickevičius. Lithuanian Poles have been fighting for years for the right to write their surnames in Polish. And not only their surnames, also names of places they live; Soleczniki is officially called Šalčininkai. Of course, there were also many other problems, e.g. land restitution - de facto decommunization - was carried out in a manner unfavourable for Lithuanian Poles.

Gestures and beyond

Now many things have changed radically. Firstly, the attitude to common history. The best example is the treatment of the anniversaries of the 3rd of May Constitution in Vilnius. This was also evident this year.

The anniversary of the first constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was attended this time, as before, by representatives of the highest authorities. "The May 3rd Constitution is a special document, which was the second in the world and the first in Europe to establish the principle of separation of powers, outlined the principles of modern lawmaking and perhaps outstripped the processes beginning in Europe," said President Gintanas Nauseda, who visited the Lithuanian Constitutional Court on the occasion of the celebrations. "We have many reasons to be proud, we celebrate this holiday together with the Republic of Poland and it is symbolic that on this day I visit the Constitutional Court", he stressed. And in a letter to Polish President Andrzej Duda, Nauseda wrote that "the slogan of the 3rd of May Constitution - for our freedom and yours - which inspired generations in the struggle for freedom and independence, is relevant again today". This time in the context of supporting Ukraine, which is currently experiencing Russian military aggression.

In turn, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė stressed that the document adopted on May 3, 1791 "came into being at a time of extraordinary challenges for the Republic, but it only emphasised the responsibility of its citizens for their country, their will to reform and their preference for the culture of consensus and compromise over the culture of force". As she pointed out, "thanks to this, the 3rd of May Constitution is not only an important historical event - the first written constitution in Europe and the second in the world - but also an inspiring example for our present". And she added that it represented another opportunity "to celebrate our common achievements with Poland and to further strengthen our friendship and strategic partnership".

In addition to symbolic events, there are also very concrete ones. We need only look at those of May and June this year. At the beginning of this month, the Poland-Lithuania gas interconnector was officially opened. "Today we strengthen our energy security, our resistance to political pressure, as well as to energy blackmail from the East", said President Gintanas Nauseda. "That is why Lithuania together with Poland and other Baltic countries confirm and say a definite 'no' to gas from Russia, 'no' to oil from Russia, 'no' to funds for the aggressor. Today the whole region is ready to send the same message," he added.

Anyway, the leaders of Poland and Lithuania meet and talk regularly. Just recently, the presidential minister Jakub Kumoch reported another telephone conversation, the topic of which was the efforts to grant Ukraine the status of an EU candidate and the forthcoming Trilateral Summit.

From the point of view of the Polish minority, the key issue was the adoption by the Lithuanian Seimas of the law permitting the use of the letters "w", "x", "q" in the official spelling of the surname. For Poles, this means the possibility to use the letter "w", but (at least for now) diacritic signs, i.e. "ñ", "ć" or "ó" will not be used. This issue dragged on for a long time and the Seimas decision was criticised by nationalists, who argued that the gradual limitation of the constitutional status of the state Lithuanian language would contribute to the disintegration of the country. Nevertheless, the law was signed by President Nauseda and came into force just this May. "The President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda signed the Law on the spelling of surnames, which - in my opinion - is a step in a very good direction in Polish-Lithuanian relations. I called him to thank him and all those involved in the work on the law," Andrzej Duda wrote on Twitter.

Change has been underway for years

According to Professor Alvydas Nikžentaitis, the director of the Lithuanian History Institute, the change of attitude of our north-eastern neighbours towards Poland has been taking place for many years. "In the past, 'Solidarity' played a great role in changing the Lithuanians' relations with Poland. The old stereotypes of Poles as people who were outright enemies and who were not allowed to come to Lithuania during the interwar period were broken. Here Poles are successfully fighting against the great enemy of Lithuanians - the Soviets!", Prof. Nikžentaitis emphasizes. As he recalls, earlier there was also the Parisian 'Kultura' of Jerzy Giedroyc, which maintained contacts with part of the Lithuanian emigration.

The professor admits that after Lithuania regained independence there was a period of "cool peace" between Lithuanians and Poles, although many local politicians believed that good relations were needed between Vilnius and Warsaw. However, they were unable to transcend their previous belief that distance from Poland was necessary to maintain Lithuanian identity.

"But in the last ten years, people have appeared in our intellectual circles, working with politicians and explaining the significance of Giedroyc, Kultura and Solidarity, pointing out that the new Poland is different from the pre-war one. A parliamentary group 'Constitution of the 3rd of May' was formed in the Lithuanian Seimas, headed by former Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius; when he became an MEP, his place was taken by the current Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. This group contributed a lot to the improvement of our relations," says Nikžentaitis. "And then came the government of Saulius Skvernelis, who definitely wants good cooperation with Poland. All this educational work and the growing threat from the eastern neighbour caused a complete change in the Lithuanians' attitude towards Poland. Now Poland is considered to be a strategic partner, and even if we do not like something in the Polish internal politics, we need to maintain the best relations between our countries," he points out.

Professor Andrzej Pukszto, a historian and political scientist from Kaunas Vytautas University, is of a similar opinion: "Lithuanians' attitudes towards Poland began to change earlier, although now Russia's aggression against Ukraine has accelerated them. This has both internal and external reasons. It is important to realise that 32 years have already passed since Lithuania regained its independence. This means more than one generation. So a generation of Lithuanians has grown up without prejudices, without negative baggage, looking to the future. And Lithuania and Poland are destined to cooperate closely. First of all, it concerns security issues, both military and energy ones. The situation in the world is very turbulent, we need more than bilateral alliances. Fortunately, we are together both in the European Union and in NATO".

Laurynas Vaičiūnas, Chairman of the Board of the College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław, also believes that the attitude of Lithuanians towards Poland has changed, which can be seen, for example, from a survey conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vilnius. It shows that Lithuanians consider Poland as a country with which cooperation is particularly advisable. This was stated by 70 percent of respondents. Latvia (67 percent), Germany (60 percent) and Estonia (58 percent) came next. It is worth noting that Russia (69 percent) and Belarus (64 percent) were considered as the most hostile countries to Lithuania.

"The Lithuanian political class felt the need to get closer to Poland, but also Poland understood that it is necessary to strengthen regional cooperation," says Laurynas Vaičiūnas. "And Lithuanian citizens recognise that Poland is a country with which cooperation is simply necessary. In the face of Russia's actions, especially since 2014 and now, in the face of the Russian-Ukrainian war, quarrels over the spelling of the names of Poles living in Lithuania have turned out to be unimportant or even harmful," he stresses.

"Cooperation was particularly good between 2016 and the end of 2020, when Lithuania was ruled by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens, while Poland was ruled by PiS, right-wing groups finding a common language. In December 2020, Ingrida Šimonytė became the Prime Minister of Lithuania, and her government found itself in the European mainstream. As a result, there is no more "feeling" between Warsaw and Vilnius, but cooperation goes well, which is proven, among others, by the adoption of a law allowing the use of letters that do not appear in the Lithuanian alphabet in the spelling of surnames, such as 'w'", adds the President of the College.

How to consolidate this trend?

Now, of course, the key question is: is this change permanent? Can we count on a further favourable attitude of Lithuanians towards Poland? We may think so, because we are dealing with a process that has been going on for many years, which has significantly accelerated just now, in the face of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. We just have to try hard not to spoil this good atmosphere in the Lithuanian-Polish relations. For we must be aware that there is one country that is definitely bothered by this situation, and that is, of course, Russia. If we can therefore expect any kind of threat, it is mainly from Russian propaganda and the army of internet trolls operating on both sides of the Lithuanian-Polish border.

– Piotr Kościński
– Translated by Tomasz Krzyżanowski

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists