Law / UK driving license mess in Poland [72]

Number 2 without a doubt. Of course you will actually need to still have some sort of UK address. If not use the address of any other family member - of course with their knowledge.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]


As far as I am aware London was never part of Polish territory. Much or Lithuania and all of Vilnius used to be in Poland. Perhaps you should read some history before making a fool out of yourself again.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]


I was not suggesting that Vilnius is Polish. However, there is still a sizeable Polish minority in the city and in some districts Poles actually are still in the majority. In such cases it seems only reasonable to recognise the actual situation. It is not just reasonable, but it is also required according to EU rules. I see no good reason why this should be so difficult to accept when in Poland the German minority has been given similar rights and privilages.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]


Well if you what to make such a ridiculous connection then it is clear who is being unreasonable in this case. I fail to understand your problem with the use of unique Polish letters. Poland's EU Commissioner until recently was Danuta Hubner. I can't write the correct spelling here but she used the German "u" or "umlout" in here name. Obviously this never caused the Poles any difficult so why would using Polish letters for Polish names create such a "difficult" problem in Lithuania. Incidently I would expect the Poles to be equally tollerant towards the Lithuanian minority in North Eastern Poland. Frankly speaking I think your position is childish.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]


If that is the case then so be it. I have no issue with this.

I have never seen her documents. However, I have noticed at every official event (in Poland or elsewhere) her name was always spelt using the German "u"


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I agree - not usually in official documents. Nevertheless one reason for this is historical as it is related to the fact that until recently only English letters were available on typewriters in the UK. Foreigners in the UK commonly use their own spellings for most purposes and this does not cause either insult or any problem. For instance many French and Spanish names in the UK continue to be spelt with their unique linguistic letters. In fact the use of the female version of Polish names (i.e. ending in "ska") is increasingly common also in the UK, even if most English people do not understand its significance.

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]

Then why has Poland introduced laws which forbid the registration of names it deems as being non Polish? An English friend of mine with a Polish wife and living in the country tried to register their newly born baby with a purely English (well Welsh actually) Christian name. The registration was refused. In the end not to be undone he went with his wife and registered the birth in the UK. They then presented the "de-facto" name to the Poles. Does this sound like civilised behaviour on the part of the Poles?

News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]

Why should there be an issue at all? I remember when the law was introduced about 10 years ago. It was dreamt up by ultra nationalists (and by now way does that exclude the left in Polish politics) as a reaction to their impression of increasing use of English in the country for names and business etc. The fact is that it is simply an unacceptable practice.