Poland`s Sejm votes to allow Belarusian to be used in local public offices as additional language
Published:
12 January 2005 y., Wednesday
Poland`s Sejm (lower chamber of the national parliament) has passed an amendment providing that ethnic Belarusians residing in the country may use Belarusian in local public offices. As the Belarusian Service of RFE/RL reported, the amendment stipulates that local governmental agencies may use Belarusian as an "additional language" provided the Belarusian national minority accounts for 20 percent of the territorial unit`s population. An original version of the amendment set the percentage at 50 percent.
The Sejm voted that numbers of people belonging to the Belarusian minority would be determined on the basis of the most recent population census conducted in Poland in 2002.
Belarusians are the second largest national minority in Poland after Germans. According to Polish official sources, in the 2002 census, 47,640 citizens of Poland declared themselves Belarusians. Of them, 46,041 resided in the Podlaskie province. The Belarusian minority is represented in the 460-seat Sejm by MPs Eugeniusz Czykwin, Aleksander Czuz and Sergiusz Plewa. The Belarusian language is reportedly taught to 3,664 children in 40 public schools.
Most of Poland`s Belarusians are members of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
Šaltinis:
Charter`97 Press Center
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
In the final session of the February plenary MEPs gathered to discuss the issue of correct labelling for animal feeds. BSE, CJD and 'mad cow' disease stemmed directly from using contaminated animal feeds leading to widespread culls and fear of the unknown.
more »
Officials of Australia are warning residents of country's second largest state to keep an eye out for crocs and other animals roaming the area.
more »
MEPs believe “the right to speak and to be educated in one's mother tongue is one of the most basic fundamental rights” and on Tuesday Hungarian Socialist Csaba Tabajdi and five other MEPs grilled the Commission on its plans to protect traditional national, ethnic and immigrant minorities in Europe.
more »
Thirteen thousand people from as far as Japan gathered in western Pennsylvania to see if spring will come early.
more »
The self-described "mom-in-chief," First Lady Michelle Obama, took to the podium at the U.S. Department of Education.
more »
Most Europeans are unhappy with the bus and train services in their cities, and a large percentage complain about their power companies and banks, an EU survey shows.
more »
Thousands turned out in Moscow for the enthronement of the Russian Orthodox Church's - the world's second-biggest Church - new leader.
more »
India‘s slum dwellers are taken to the streets in protest at the name of the Oscar-nominated film "Slumdog Millionaire."
more »
Chris Ogle bought a second hand MP3 player in America for just 10 dollars and back home in New Zealand he found it contained 60 confidential US military files.
more »
European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, announced the planned funding as he visited the Middle East region on a two-day humanitarian mission.
more »