Lithuania: Street names in certain foreign languages legally approved

A regional administrative court here decided on Wednesday that the city's decision to write some of its street names in foreign languages was legitimate as the plaques in other languages didn't contradict official Lithuanian language laws.

"The court decided that those plaques are not official signs, all of them are unique and different, therefore, they can't be equaled to massive writing in other than the Lithuanian language; they are not aimed at giving information in other than official state's language," judge Violeta Petkeviciene was quoted as saying by the news agency Elta.

She added that the plaques with street names in foreign languages were pieces of art rather than official signs and they were installed in order to honor national minorities which played an important historical role in Vilnius's community.

The legal dispute about street names in foreign languages was initiated by Vilda Vaiciuniene, the government representative of Vilnius County, who argued that signing the streets with a language other than Lithuanian breached the law on the state language and might incite discord among local national minorities. Endit