The comparison of the contemporary situation of national minorities in Poland and Lithuania

In the early 90s, significant changes in the political and geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe occurred inter alia the collapse of communist rule and the collapse of the Soviet Union. All this processes have caused also social, legal and organizational changes of the situation of national minorities in Eastern Europe. There have been the liberalization and empowerment of national minorities. After 1990 began to be formed many organizations which were connected with social, educational, cultural or political life of national minorities. But on the other hand the result of this changes was a revival of old conflicts in Eastern Europe. Although the Eastern European countries are in one body like the EU, the legal status of national minorities sometimes is quite different, for example in Poland and Lithuania where changes are caused by the historical conditions. Despite of the fact that in the past Poland and Lithuania have been one country, nowadays many facts are evaluated totally different by both sides. In Lithuania which is relatively a small country with low population, the national minorities represent a high proportion and this situation causes a lot of tensions. In Poland which is much bigger country with large population, minorities are a small percentage of the population and the rights of minorities are quite extensive. References 19. Figures 4. Tables 7. Summary in Lithuanian