As Latvia is moving to ban Russian instructions in ATMs, Lithuania is not considering similar measures. Banks say the Russian-language option is used by about 8% of their clients.
The Latvian parliament is one vote away from banning instructions in Russian in the country’s ATMs. If the motion comes through, users will only be able to choose between Latvian and English.
“It is argued that there is one official language, that is Latvian, and that it will also be possible, if the banks so wish, to carry out transactions in the official languages of the EU. Russian is not one of them,” explains journalist Paulius Jakelis who works in Latvia.
The decision to abandon Russian is quite unanimous among politicians and it is only a matter of time before it is implemented, he says.
Most ATMs in Lithuania also offers to choose among instructions in Lithuanian, English and Russian.
So far, there have not been any legislative proposals to change it. And according to Eivile Cipkute, head of the Association of Banks, the banks operating in Lithuania are not themselves considering removing the Russian option from ATMs.
According to her, a significant share of bank clients are using it.
“At the moment, these languages are chosen according to the needs of the clients. If we look at the number of customers who use Russian, it’s about 8%,” she tells LRT TV. “Who are they? Lithuania’s Russian-speaking communities in Visaginas, Klaipeda, Vilnius region. There are also Belarusians, Ukrainians who moved here because of the war, tourists as well as businesspeople from Central Asia.”
Political analyst Marjus Antonovic suggests more options should be added, such as Polish, since Polish speakers are the biggest ethnic minority community in the country. Moreover, it is no longer the case that all tourists visiting Lithuania understand either Russian or English.
“In Poland, for example, not even after the invasion of Ukraine, but after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, when a large number of Ukrainians appeared in Poland, the Ukrainian language appeared in ATMs. So introducing Polish, Russian, Ukrainian language here is purely a question of the will of the banks, how much they respect their customers,” says Antonovic.
In Latvia, subject to parliamentary approval, Russian will no longer be available at ATMs from the end of January next year. Introducing new languages is not yet on the table. (BNN)