He counted how many Lithuanians should return to Lithuania: he indicated two radically different scenarios

The last wave of emigration was “too abundant”

According to Professor A. Eidinto, he began to write the book due to the excessive wave of the last emigration.

“The impetus was to have so much free time to somehow dance to the rhythm of the current wave of emigration, unexpectedly abundant, too abundant. And even evoking such restless thoughts. During the 30 years of independence, when no one persecuted the Lithuanian nation, they did not persecute the Lithuanian schools, nothing is forbidden. And a million people leave a free and democratic Lithuania abroad. And in part, maybe we no longer consider the EU abroad, so the situation is not so tragic yet, ”said the historian.

He said the latest wave of emigration was “too abundant.”

“And because of that, I somehow wanted to compare myself to the previous wave of mass emigration,” he explained.

For example, in the interwar period, around 100,000 Lithuanians emigrated from Independent Lithuania, which was due to difficult economic reasons. But the current wave of emigration has not stopped either.

“This is not a large number, that desire to emigrate was, the situation in Lithuania’s economy between the wars was not easy. But now there is a wave of massive emigration that has not stopped yet. We can console you that it has stopped. , which has begun to return more, but these trends have not yet been registered, ”said historian A. Eidintas in the discussion.

He said that in the third wave of emigration, new directions emerged: Ireland, Spain, Norway. The historian said that the incentive to go abroad in search of happiness has also become an invitation to come to family and friends.

And although Lithuanian schools, societies and professional societies are emerging in new directions of emigration, painful problems persist.

“Emigration is accompanied by such negative phenomena, like the one I observed in Norway. They come completely unregistered, they cross forests, they work in agriculture, they do not put money into pension funds, they are insured or trained.

It is extremely unfortunate that these recruitment companies are taking those people out and agitating them. Does someone review them, record them, receive the money earned or just a part of them? “Said the professor and historian A. Eidintas in the presentation of his book.

He said that “human trafficking” was already starting here.

“The transport of girls for sex work also fits into emigration, and the chain of crime that accompanies emigration begins. As there are many problems, I decided to write that book too ”, the historian and author of the book A. Eidintas presented his position at the event.

What will Lithuania be like in 100 years?

Historian A. Eidintas urged discussion participants to ask a simple question: Not many Lithuanians leave the country.

“Maybe that’s the question to ask: do I really need to go?” If I want to live like America, do I need to create America in Lithuania? Have I tried everything already, even if it doesn’t work? That part leaves and emigrates, gains experience there, everything is in order. But because there is no retroactive effect ”, he lamented.

The historian considered whether Lithuania would remain a Lithuanian-speaking state.

“The main problem you would see and where to start talking is that the birth rate has doubled in 30 years, as the population of Lithuania has been declining since 1992, the situation is becoming such that the Lithuanian population is melting. .

This is felt by the economy, culture, all areas, especially small towns. The question arises: will Lithuania remain a Lithuanian-speaking state? Anyone will live in that area, but will the Lithuanians come back? How much does it take to return so that the population at least does not decrease ”, said A. Eidintas.

According to him, the future of the country is the most worrying thing.

“After 100 years, I would be very saddened by Lithuania, which would have a population of only 1.5 million. And the dream would be Lithuania with a population of 3.5 million. And we are talking about maintaining a Lithuanian-speaking Lithuania,” he said in the discussion.

“According to my calculations, if 200 thousand. The Lithuanians will return it will be fine. It will be very good,” said historian A. Eidintas.

What repels?

Jūratė Caspersen, chairperson of the board of directors of the Lithuanian community in Switzerland, stated in the discussion that she was more in favor of the pessimistic scenario of Lithuania after 100 years.

“Will you speak Lithuanian in Lithuania? There is a big question here, because especially now, as never before, we are focusing on Lithuanian schools on language levels, on exams, on admission to higher education and not on language learning. For them to come to Lithuania to understand the environment. But it is not clear if it will help us to remain Lithuanian, “said J. Caspersen in his first comment.

The author of the book, Professor A. Eidintas, raised the question why compatriots living abroad are not interested in Lithuanian affairs. J. Caspersen, Chairman of the Board of the Lithuanian Community in Switzerland, also provided a possible answer.

According to her, it is not necessary to demand this from debtors, because it becomes a kind of rejection factor.

“My second idea is why Lithuanians do not respond to Lithuanian affairs abroad. Here is a more complicated answer, but after almost 30 years living outside of Lithuania, I come to the conclusion that there are two first reasons. The first is is that after 3 waves of emigration, leaving Lithuania, his establishment abroad is extremely difficult. They give him his whole life. And when such signals come from Lithuania, asking for investment, tourism promotion, another and another.

So you think, what is Lithuania now? Are you a foreign Lithuanian employment agency? You need to understand the people for whom they went out to build their lives. Yes, when they can, they will turn to Lithuania. But demand from them like borrowers …? Here I think it is one of the rejection factors. And the other: Lithuania is not busy or scared, it has to take care of its people first, it is a great exclusion, ”said J. Caspersen in the discussion.

He said that the Swiss who came to Lithuania were surprised by the wealth of large cities, they assured that the problems of the country in question were not visible in them.

Don’t you need to dramatize?

The Deputy Foreign Minister Egidijus Meilūnas, who participated in the discussion, called not to dramatize.

“It just came to our attention then. People left for a variety of reasons, for economic reasons, yes, for others. But a lot of things come back,” he explained.

The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assured that the current government is trying to create a unified information system that helps compatriots who return to Lithuania.

“A hundred years from now, we can bet that 2,121 people in Lithuania will live a little over 4 million people,” he said.