Kazėnas, Gediminas

W mediach po obu stronach najwięcej informacji jest związanej z kwestiami mniejszości narodowych i w dodatku tymi kwestiami, które wywołują najwięcej emocji, to jednak współpraca polsko-litewska jest o wiele szersza i obejmuje różne dziedziny. Stosunki polsko-litewskie na tle spraw mniejszości narodowych są bardzo wraźliwe i wywołują dużo emosji, to stosunki ekonomiczne, infrastrukturalne, kulturowe i wojskowe nie mają takiego ładunku i rozwijają się niezależnie. Oczywiście, że polityczny klimat w kontescie spraw mniejszości narodowych, bez wątpienia ma wpływ na relacje, jednak hystorycznie i ze spraw geopolitycznych i bezpieczeństwa uwarunkowany potencjał nie pozwala calkowicie zahamować rozwoju obustronnych stosunków.

Lithuania and Poland share a long history together dating from the Commonwealth of the Two Nations. However, in modern history, the most difficult period was the twentieth century, when territorial disputes arose between the two countries as a result of the reorganisation of the whole political system of Europe and the transition to the system of nation-states. This aggravated relations between the two nations for a long time and has had a significant impact on further relations between Lithuania and Poland, including the episode of entering into the Treaty Between the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Lithuania on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourly Cooperation in 1994 (hereafter the Treaty) (Traktat mied̨zy Rzeczap̨ospolita ̨ Polska a Republika Litewska o przyjaznych stosunkach i dobrosas̨iedzkiej współpracy, 1995). The circumstances of the signing of the Lithuanian-Polish treaty, the last such treaty among all those Poland concluded with its neighbours, clearly reflect the complexity of the relations between Lithuania and Poland. However, while taking account of the intensity of those relations and their periodic ups and downs, we may state that great potential still exists for their further development. When researching the relations between Lithuania and Poland in depth, one finds that they are not easy to understand. In the mass media there is a wide range of articles in which both scholars and politicians, as well as active ordinary members of society, speak in the most diverse ways about the relations between Lithuania and Poland. Most often, such views relate to the issue of national minorities and their rights on both sides of the common border. The long, common history shared by Lithuania and Poland still has a considerable impact on current relations and adds an extra burden. In short, any analysis of Lithuanian-Polish relations is complicated in terms of both content and methodology. In this sense, the Lithuanian-Polish Treaty provided a useful tool for systematising relations between Lithuania and Poland in such fields of bilateral cooperation as the military and security, institutions, the economy and trade, cross-border issues, infrastructure (energy and transport), the protection of national minorities, cultural cooperation, and cooperation in the fields of science, education and justice. This list naturally allows us to see a more complex area of relations and to distance ourselves from the issue of ethnic minorities that is given such enormous attention by the media. This chapter does not touch upon the problem of national minorities, because that problem is very broad, often discussed and heavily politicised. Moreover, because it is often perceived as a cornerstone of Lithuanian-Polish relations, it has already been well researched. Another issue that will not be touched on here is cooperation in the field of justice, because it is a technical judicial administrative question where all cooperation is carried out on the basis of approved international procedures.

The purpose of this article is to present the analysis of the election results of Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija-Kriščioniškų šeimų sąjunga (LLRA-KŠS, Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania-Christian Families Alliance) in Lithuania’s Parliamentary election 2016. The article presents a short review of the development of Lithuanian-Polish relationship. Several new events took place before Parliamentary election 2016 and had a certain impact on it. First of all, constituency borders were changed in Lithuania, what in general was very advantageous for LLRA-KŠS. Secondly, geopolitical and security situation in Russia changed dramatically because of its aggression in Ukraine and it also revealed prokremlin’s orientation of LLRA-KŠS that in turn had a very negative impact on the party’s image. Probably due to this LLRA-KŠS received about 10,000 votes less. This drop was most significant in Vilnius city but had an immaterial effect in the constituencies controlled by LLRA-KŠS. Nevertheless, the election reveals another important fact that voters in Vilnius district value not only candidates' nationalities (as it might be expected) but also their origin and bonds with local communities.

1. The old Western democracy countries have various long existing profound content based forms of implementation of democracy, the most famous of which are référendums in Switzerland, collective bargaining and work place democracy in Sweden, the activity of the ombudsmen’s institution in Sweden and other countries of the world, etc. 2. It is important for Lithuania to find its own way of genuine rather than formal democracy, with a genuine political democracy on the national level, democracy in work places both in the public and private sectors, reduction of social inequality and increase of empathy and benevolence towards the weaker ones. 3. The past twenty years in Lithuania marked the entrenchment of formal rather than genuine democracy, when the weaker members of the society were not adequately represented, and the opinion of the governed ones, as well as their interests, were often not taken into account. 4. The mass media in Lithuania was independent for a long time and was fiinctioning as an instrument for encouraging democracy, however, in the current geopolitical context, one can observe dangerous trends of dividing rather than consolidating the society. 5. To achieve genuine rather than formal democracy in Lithuania, it is essential to better observe the principle of separation of powers and give more attention to the solution of domestic problems. 6. One of the contemporary democracy development forms in the management of public services should be strengthening of the co-participation of the services clients and their empowerment.

Mykolo Romerio universiteto Politikos mokslų institutas įgyvendino Lietuvos Mokslų Tarybos finansuotą 2 metų trukmės projektą „Lenkų tautinės mažumos Lietuvoje identiteto tyrimas“. Tyrimas susidėjo iš kokybinio ir kiekybinio tyrimo, kurio metu nustatyti Lietuvos lenkų tapatumo elementai ir jų statistinis paplitimas ir geografinis pasiskirstymas. Studijos autoriai taip pat atliko Lietuvos lenkų spaudos analizę, kuria siekta nustatyti, koks naratyvas yra formuojamas. Taip pat yra apžvelgiama pasaulinė tautinių mažumų problematika. Šios studijos tikslas yra giliau ir išsamiau ištirti Lietuvos lenkų tautinį ir politinį tapatumą ir sudaryti teorines (mokslines) prielaidas lietuvių-lenkų santykių gerinimui.

Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania in elections in Lithuania. How Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania managed to surpass the 5 percent electoral tmanaged to surpass the 5 percent electoral threshold? Political activity of Poles in Lithuania started around the same time as Lithuanian. The Union of Poles in Lithuania was established at the congress on 15‑16 April, 1989, which transformed the Socio‑Cultural Association of Poles in Lithuania, founded a year earlier – in 1988. In the first parliamentary elections in independent Lithuania, Polish minority was not very active. Looking at the public space, the internal situation in the political elite of the Polish minority in Lithuania and the development of Polish‑Lithuanian relationship as well as election results of AWPL in Lithuania have a noticeable direct relationship. The development of Polish‑Lithuanian relations after the collapse of the Soviet Union can be divided into three stages: 1st from 1990 to 1994, 2nd from 1995 to 2005 period, 3rd from about 2007 to the present time. AWPL is a regional party and its political influence is limited over the whole country. Meanwhile, the party has regionally dominant positions in two municipalities (the Vilnius region and Šalčininkai), and even in the two municipalities (Vilnius city, Trakai) is a influential party. Cooperation of AWPL with Russian parties in Lithuania started already during 1995 elections. Without support of Russian voters and other marginal parties, AWPL would probably not have been able to overcome 5 percent barier for parties in proportional system.

Mykolo Romerio universiteto Politikos mokslų institutas įgyvendino Lietuvos Mokslų Tarybos finansuotą 2 metų trukmės projektą „Lenkų tautinės mažumos Lietuvoje identiteto tyrimas“. Tyrimas susidėjo iš kokybinio ir kiekybinio tyrimo, kurio metu nustatyti Lietuvos lenkų tapatumo elementai ir jų statistinis paplitimas ir geografinis pasiskirstymas. Studijos autoriai taip pat atliko Lietuvos lenkų spaudos analizę, kuria siekta nustatyti, koks naratyvas yra formuojamas. Taip pat yra apžvelgiama pasaulinė tautinių mažumų problematika. Šios studijos tikslas yra giliau ir išsamiau ištirti Lietuvos lenkų tautinį ir politinį tapatumą ir sudaryti teorines (mokslines) prielaidas lietuvių-lenkų santykių gerinimui.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of the eurozone crisis on the Lithuanian economy and on Lithuania’s bid to adopt the euro. Similarly to other Baltic states, Lithuania was aff ected not only by the crisis in the euro area, but also by the global fi nancial crisis of 2007-2008. In order to preserve the public fi nance stability, austerity measures were introduced and Lithuania did not have to resort to the IMF’s assistance. Today, Lithuania’s economy is on a path to recovery. In this context the question of the Lithuanian dilemma towards the introduction of the euro is discussed. Due to the eurozone crisis as well as due to the necessity for the eurozone member-states to contribute to fi nancial assistance schemes for the European South, there is no particular political will to introduce the euro at the moment. Nevertheless, the euro remains the best warranty of fi nancial and economic stability in Lithuania.

Vadovėlis supažindina su Europos Sąjungos bendrąja žemės ūkio politika, jos atsiradimo aplinkybėmis. Pirmoje dalyje apžvelgiamos vidinės ir tarptautinės aplinkybės, lėmusios žemės ūkio sektoriaus įtraukimą į kuriamos Europos Sąjungos projektą. Tai atsispindi bendrosios žemės ūkio politikos tiksluose, įtvirtintuose Romos sutartyje, ir susiformavusiuose nuostatuose. Antroje dalyje aptariamos bendrosios žemės ūkio politikos reformos. Trečia dalis skirta žemės ūkio rinkų reguliavimo mechanizmams pristatyti. Ketvirtoje dalyje apžvelgiama kaimo plėtros politikos raida ES, pristatomi kaimo plėtros modeliai. Penkta dalis supažindina su pagrindinėmis kaimo plėtros priemonėmis, taikomomis bendrojoje žemės ūkio politikoje. Šeštoje dalyje pristatomos Lietuvos kaimo plėtros priemonės. Septinta dalis skirta tausojančiajam ūkininkavimui aptarti. Aštuntoje dalyje pasakojama apie bendrosios žemės ūkio politikos įgyvendinimo institucinę struktūrą, pagrindines institucijas ir jų kompetencijas įgyvendinant bendrąją žemės ūkio politiką.