Posted on 04/15/2005 3:07:42 PM PDT by lizol
IS LITHUANIAN NATION ON VERGE OF DISAPPEARANCE?
VILNIUS, April 12 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Vodo) - The Lithuanian nation is on the verge of disappearance, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said addressing parliament with the annual report on the situation in the republic.
Adamkus called to the formation of social society in Lithuania, consolidation of social justice and prevention of the nation from disappearance.
The president pointed to the political alienation of Lithuanians and the lack of civil and political maturity, social justice and solidarity in the face of rapid economic development and uncontrollable demographic and migration processes which can lead to the disappearance of the nation.
According to Adamkus, many people doubt the future of their country and do not link their lives and lives of their children with Lithuania. Young people leave the country which suffers from brain drain and loss of manpower, the head of state said.
According to the Lithuanian statistic department, the Lithuanian population reduced by 20,000 people in the first three months of 2005 (as compared to the fourth quarter of 2004). As of April 1, 2005, the country's population was only 3,425,500 people. Different sociological polls show that up to 60% of Lithuanians want to live and work abroad.
In the opinion of President Adamkus, the main strategic tasks of Lithuania are to form independent civil society and a political nation; to solve socio-economic and technological problems, to lay down the foundations of social justice and to restore people's confidence in themselves, their nation and state.
What? No Islamofacist hack jobs running rampant in Lithuania ???
Second, the boundaries of the country moved several times during the 20th century. So a Lithuanian farm in 1914 might have become a Polish farm in 1919, a German farm in 1939, a Soviet farm in 1945, and today might even be a Ukrainian farm. Talk about loss of national identity, or even cynicism about national identity!
Third -- there are no national resources in the current Lithuania and there is no capital available for investment. No wonder that the poor people want to emigrate.
we are going extinct!
"First, two many ethnic Russians live there, and they do not share the Lithuanian identity. After Stalin finally got hold of Lithuania after WWII, the Soviets deliberately moved ethnic Russians to Lithuania in an attempt to change the demographic mix. I think the ethnic Russian percentage of the population is over 50%. "
Wrong. The number of Ethnic Russians is 8.7% according to CIA World Fact Book. Ethnic Lithuanians are more then 80% of the total population.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/lh.html
Resurrect the Commonwealth!
Also how "too many ethnic Russians" (8.7% of population as I mentioned) make ethnic Lithuanians want to leave Lithuania ? Do they force Lithuanians out of Lithuania at a gunpoint ? FYI, there are ethnic Russians who lived in Lithuania for many generations long before Stalin. Lithuania was a part of Russian Empire since 1830's and there were ties between Polish Lithuanian kingdom and Moscow Rus/Russian Empire before that.
In Latvia and Estonia the percentage of ethnic Russians/Russian Speakers is higher than in Lithuania (about 30% in each country). Many of them were born in Latvia and Estonia after Stalin, but they were not allowed to claim Latvian and Estonian citizenship after Latvia and Estonia became independent in 1991 because of the laws passed by parlament that those Russians who were born in Latvia and Lithuania to parents who moved there under Soviet Times, must pass a citizenship test in Latvian and Estonian respectively.
So-called "Lithuania Minor," which is technically part of Russian territory but is basically the same land, contains 1 million Russians and no doubt this too has an impact on Lithuanian sentiments.
I am having a "past great empires reformed" moment.... ;)
How about recreating the Polish - Lithuanian Federation?
Great minds think alike? ....;)
Remember the Lithuanian Empire reached all the way to the Black Sea in 1450! Borders always change.
The current wave of Lithuanian immigration has nothing to do with %pct of Russians in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. They immigrate because they don't see much opportunity for themselves in Lithuania and they move to more prosperous Western European Countries (i.e. Germany, UK, etc.) The same immigration waves are now coming out of Poland and East Germany.
-:)))) I doubt anyone would want to re-draw the borders once again -:)))) You can't go twice into the same river.
Ever notice that any concept that begins with the word "social" ends up being pretty much worthless?
Really, am I supposed to care about this?
This is probably the best solution to the evaporating country of Lithuania. The people are such an intermingled group (my grandfather swore he was Polish, but he was born in Wilnus) that to preserve what identity and culture that remains might just require a permanent bond with their brother/sister nation of Poland. Good luck and prosperity to the Lugans.
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