Former presidential candidate of Belarus and opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya appealed to the Lithuanian authorities with a request to change the current official name of Belarus in Lithuanian, so that there is no “mistaken association” with Russia.
According to Tikhanovskaya, the name of Belarus in Lithuanian associates it with Russia. Therefore, she wrote a letter to the Lithuanian authorities., in which he asks to change the spelling of the name of the republic from Baltarùsija to Belarusià. According to her,, it would be “a sign of respect for the sovereignty of Belarus”.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielus Landsbergis urging him to change the name in Lithuanian from Baltarùsija to Belarusià. Current official name Baltarùsija, Unfortunately, perceived, as a tracing paper from the Russian name Belarus, leads to a mistaken association with the state of Russia
– said on the official page of the head of the opposition in the telegram channel.
Vilnius has already responded to Tikhanovskaya's request and said, that you do not mind changing the name of Belarus in the Lithuanian language, if the Belarusian people ask about it.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielus Landsbergis, the Lithuanian name of Belarus should reflect that, what “Belarus” means “White Russia”.
Name, which we call our neighboring country, should not reinforce the understanding of Belarus as part of Russia that was established during the years of occupation
– he stressed.
Earlier, Lithuania, at the request of Georgia, changed its name to Sakartvelo.
