[ad_1]
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a letter sent to the Minister on Tuesday, S. Cichanouskaya asks to change the Lithuanian name of Belarus to a form closer to this country.
According to the ministry, the letter states that such a decision by Lithuania would express respect for the sovereignty of the neighboring state and “support the linguistic and cultural identity of the Belarusian nation.”
“Belarus means ‘White Russia’, not Russia. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry will submit an application to the Lithuanian State Language Commission to evaluate the proposal and initiate the procedure to revise the name,” Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said at the report.
The SNB affirmed with Cichanouskaya himself after discussing the issue on Friday.
“It just came to our attention then. Both the historians of Vilnius University and the rector Mr. Petrauskas have expressed an important and audible position on the possible name of Belarus,” the foreign minister told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.
“I can have a personal opinion, like a little history, that that part of Russia is much later.” “Neither the nation nor the state is associated with the name, and the original name is from the time of Kievan Rus’, namely White Russia, which is acceptable and acceptable to us,” he said.
“I strongly urge state institutions to get involved in this discussion, because it is very significant, it contributes to the formation of the self-awareness of the Belarusian people,” emphasized G. Landsbergis.
The ministry awaits proposals from the commission on proposals for a specific form of the name, Vytautė Šmaižytė, a spokesman for G. Landsbergis, told BNS.
“We are awaiting the opinion and proposal of the State Lithuanian Language Commission. Because it’s the name of the state, linguists should appreciate it, ”he said.
A year and a half ago, at the request of the then Foreign Ministry, the VLKK had already approved an alternative name for Georgia: Sakartwell.
[ad_2]
