Language policy in Lithuania: current issues in the legal framework

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper analyses the current situation of the Lithuanian language policy in the 2-3rd decade of the twenty-first century, which, as in some other European countries, has been determined by the confrontation between nationalistic and neoliberal attitudes of the society and the Seimas (Parliament). The reasons for updating language policy are discussed: high emigration after EU accession and immigration from post-Soviet countries because of military tensions, as well as intensive globalisation and the development of IT. The article therefore provides an overview of important developments in the legal framework for language policy, some of which have been implemented and some of which have been discussed for decades. One of the subjects of this debate is the updating of the State Language Law itself and the revision of its fundamental statements. The impact of the solutions to the above-mentioned problems of the language policy on the prestige of the state Lithuanian language in society is discussed.