2022-12-01 Fifteenth session of the Forum on Minority Review. Rethink. Reform. 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Minority Rights Item 1. Review: Normative frameworks and the mainstreaming of the Declaration at the UN Dear Panellists, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for this opportunity to celebrate the Declaration, which guides us in protecting minority rights. Lithuania remains fully committed to the Declaration’s principles and objectives. Our Constitution and laws prohibit direct or indirect discrimination on any ground and guarantee equal opportunities of participation to members of all minorities in cultural, social and economic life, as well as in public affairs. While Lithuania constantly addresses and improves the situation of minorities – ensures quality education in national minority schools, increases their funding, and adopts new law allowing names of Lithuanian citizens belonging to national minorities to be written in their original form, countries like Belarus and Russia continue discriminatory and aggressive national policies. Belarusian authorities recently eliminated minority language and literature classes from the school curriculums as mandatory subjects. Local schools of Lithuanian national minority, funded by the respective Government, were prevented from operating or forced to change the language of instruction to Belarusian or Russian. Moreover, on 15 September 2022, the Belarusian side unilaterally denounced the agreement between our Ministries of Education in disregard for the termination procedures. We urge the Belarusian authorities to respect the UN Declaration on Minority Rights and allow all persons belonging to minorities to enjoy their own culture and to use their own language.