The Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Simonite, states that the study of Russian as a second foreign language in Lithuanian schools can be replaced by the study of Polish, reports Interfax.

Ingrid Simonite at a meeting with the Prime Ministers of Ukraine and PolandPhoto: Hennadiy Minchenko-Ukrinform-NurPhoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

“I’m really in favor of having Polish as a foreign language in schools as much as possible,” she said in an interview with Polish radio station Znad Wilii in Vilnius on Wednesday.

She also said that it should not be difficult for schools to find Polish teachers because there are Polish schools in Lithuania, but the number of students is decreasing.

Simonite noted that teachers of these educational institutions can go to work in Lithuanian schools.

“I want that at school, in the education system for which the state is responsible, children have a better choice than Russian, the only second foreign language that we can offer, because we simply do not have teachers who would teach other languages” , Simonite noted.

She also mentioned Latvian as another alternative to Russian.

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Lithuania, one of the strong supporters of Ukraine

Simonite’s name is being floated in diplomatic circles as a candidate to replace Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Secretary General, if his mandate is not extended again.

The Baltic states have been among Ukraine’s biggest supporters since the start of the Russian invasion, and diplomatic sources say they also want to send warplanes to Kyiv, an offer rejected by the United States and Germany.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced on January 11 that his country would supply Ukraine with Zenit anti-aircraft systems and ammunition in addition to previously announced military aid.

In August last year, neighboring Latvia announced the preparation of a bill to restrict the use of the Russian language, which provoked an angry reaction from Moscow.

“These absurd and discriminatory initiatives, which affect the interests of almost half of Latvia’s population and contradict numerous recommendations of international structures, have long become a shameful practice,” complained the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. statement.

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