Union of Poles in Lithuania ( pl, Związek Polaków na Litwie, ZPL; lt, Lietuvos lenkų sąjunga) is an organization formed in 1989 to bring together members of
Polish minority in Lithuania
The Poles in Lithuania ( pl, Polacy na Litwie, lt, Lietuvos lenkai), estimated at 183,000 people in the Lithuanian census of 2021 or 6.5% of Lithuania's total population, are the country's largest ethnic minority.
During the Polish–Lithuan ...
. It numbers between 6,000
to 11,000
[wspolnota-polska.org.pl X Zjazd Polaków na Litwie]
/ref> members. It defends the civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
of the Polish minority and engages in educational, cultural and economic activities.[ZWIĄZEK POLAKÓW NA LITWIE]
Encyklopedia Interia
Encyklopedia Internautica (Polish: "Encyclopedia Internautica") is a Polish Internet encyclopedia based on the ''Popularna Encyklopedia Powszechna'' (Popular Universal Encyclopedia) or Pinnex. It is freely accessible on the pages of Interia, Polan ...
. Last accessed 20 January 2007. It is the largest Polish organization in Lithuania, and was created in 1990.
Union of Poles in Lithuania was created at the first congress of Socio-Cultural Association of Poles (SSKPL) in Lithuania on 15-16 April 1989. SSKPL's chairman Jan Sienkiewicz proposed its transformation into a new organisation, in order to avoid accusations that a cultural organisation is engaging in political activities. The proposal was accepted, and the association has withdrawn from the Lithuanian Cultural Fund and transformed into the Union of Poles in Lithuania. Sienkiewicz became a chairman of the new organisation. At its second congress on April 22, 1990, the ZPL supported Lithuania's declaration of independence on March 11 of that year and declared its readiness to cooperate in building a free state.
ZPL organizes meetings ('Zjazdy' - 'congresses') of Polish minority, and publishes a magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
, '' Nasz Czas''. The latter was created in 2001 through the merger of the former Association magazine, "Nasza Gazeta", Estonia's Polish minority magazine "Nasza Polonia" and the Latvian Polish minority magazine "Łatgalia". The publication is supported by Senate of Poland
The Senate ( pl, Senat) is the upper house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first co ...
and The Foundation Aid to Poles in the East Fundacja Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie (''The Foundation Aid to Poles in the East'') is a foundation created by Polish government (State Treasury) in order to facilitate the cooperation between Polish government and Polonia in the East (primarily, for ...
.[Nasza Gazeta homepage]
an
Nasz Czas homepage
/ref>
The Association is not engaged in political activities, leaving them to the Polish minority political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
.
References
Bibliography
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External links
15- lecie Związku Polaków na Litwie
(2004)
Organizations established in 1990
Ethnic organizations based in Lithuania
Polish diaspora organizations
Lithuania–Poland relations
Poles in Lithuania
{{Poland-stub