Poland & Lithuania: A Centuries-Old Love-Hate Relationship

After very briefly examining the relationship between Lithuania and Latvia, it only seemed appropriate to move on to our neighbour to the southwest: The country of Poland. The relationship between Lithuania and Poland is an interesting one. Sadly, it’s not one that is as brotherly as with Latvia. But when you look at the history of the two countries, things make a little more sense.
So, let’s unpack some of it in today’s video!

CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS:
1. Sejny is not majority Lithuanian; but apparently their numbers are undercounted/underrepresented. Inaccurate information was received on this topic.
2. Jadwiga is referred to in this video as a queen since she was the female ruler - as many other sources also state. However, others refer to her as a female king in the sense that she was the highest ruler.

Sources:

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[tautvydasjuska]

In my eyes i see Poles as good people.Greetings from Lithuania🇱🇹🤝🏻🇵🇱🇺🇦

[nemmens]

I'm Polish and I never thought bad about Lithuanians. I always dreamed to visit Vilnius, more than countries like Egypt or Spain. I don't know any Pole, who tells rude things about Lithuania..

[voyageur]

I am from Poland and never in my life I heard that somebody is talking badly about people of Lithuania. I think we have a big respect for Lithuanians and an element of love because together in the past we were amazing. Moreover, I dont support any kind of war but in my opinion Lithuania should have whole Kaliningrad. I see Lithuanians and Ukrainians and Slovaks and Czechs as brothers. And maybe Hungarian people but recently I am affraid of their relationship with Russia....

[uzstiklo]

As a Lithuanian, I have nothing but respect for our Polish neighbours. The amount of help you're providing the Ukrainians with is incredible. Good job! Greetings from Lithuania

[redatamo]

I`m Lithuanian and I love Poles🤍❤ Latvians are our ethnical brothers (even twin brothers) and poles are historical brothers.

[Retromind]

I'm Lithuanian. I like Poland and its people. We like same food, we like same drinks, we have similar tastes, values, religion and outlook on life in general sense. In fact I can find more things in common with a regular Pole when compared to a Ukrainian. I even feel safer knowing we have such neighbor next to us. Long live Poland!

[polishpsych]

I am Polish so here is Polish perspective: I don’t know many people from Lithuania but the ones I met were one of the nicest and kindest people you can imagine. Food in Lithuania is delicious and country is beautiful. I don’t know anyone in Poland who would say something else than positive things about Lithuania or any Baltic Country so to speak. We love them

[papughh]

As a Polish person I never had bad thoughts about Lithuania and never met any Polish person with bad opinion about this country. We have big respect for Lithuania and Lithuanians in general and many Poles even love Lithuania! I am one of such people myself and Lithuania is honestly one of my favorite countries, Regards! :)

[pawekowal]

I am from Poland. And no one of my acquaintances has ever spoken badly about Lithuanians.

[LukasBorusevicius]

Lithuanian here.

I think that both nations, Lithuanians and Poles, are taught differently about our common history schools, which is a common phenomenon in the world. A distinction must be made between PLC and later times. The biggest pain for Lithuanians was the Polish-Lithuanian war in 1919, which caused great damage to the relations between the two nations. Big mistakes were made on both sides, the consequences of which, historically, are somewhat felt today.

As some Lithuanians wrote here there are some pro-Russian party in Lithuania who presents themselves as representatives of the Polish minority in Lithuania, but it should be seen only as Russia's efforts to prevent the Lithuanian and Polish peoples from coming closer to each other.

Nevertheless, I am happy that politicians from both countries have started to strengthen the relationship between the two nations. I think the big historical mistake was the separation and war between the two nations. Personally, I have nothing against the Poles. On the contrary, as many Poles as I have met, we all got along very well and were proud of our great common past. There is no disrespect or hatred between us, only friendship.

I respect Poland, and its people and I would like the relations between the two nations to be closer, forgetting the historical grievances and creating a strong alliance between the two countries.

🇱🇹 ❤🇵🇱

[damian]

Love-hate is probably only how lithuanians feel, Poles mosty like lithuania and dont really have anything against it.

[Adriaugu]

I am a Pole in Lithuania, and I have nothing against Lithuanians

[Comrade_Marius]

From what I see, most Poles and Lithuanians have nothing against each other. Most poles I meet are very friendly and respectful to Lithuanians and admire our shared history. The worst I find are usually super nationalist online keyboard warriors that still argue and fight over rightful ownership of Vilnius.

[lazeppelini]

Love Poland. Greetings from Lithuania ✌️✌️✌️

[wuhamster]

Ukrainian here.
I've been to both your countries. Loved both. People are great in both. Keep up as good friends and neighbours! And thanks for not leaving us behind in hard times!
Hope to visit both of you soon as a guest and as a friend, not a refugee.

[throstlewanion]

The Polish-Lithuanian relationship sounds a lot like the relationship between Spain and Portugal. Spanish people view Portugal quite positively and see it as Spain’s “little brother” but my Portuguese friends have told me that they still remember their war for independence and don’t always view Spain quite as positively

[LithuaniaExplained]

A lot of you from Poland are commenting and saying that you "didn't know that Lithuania hates Poland." 

I may not have made it clear enough in the video, but I need to state that any bad feelings or attitudes towards the Polish are held by a very, very, small group of people, and I'm almost certain that much of the country is now perfectly happy with our Polish neighbors. The purpose of this video was to try and describe some tensions that may exist among certain groups due to the long history the two countries have shared. 🇱🇹🤝🇵🇱

Update: Any corrections and clarifications have been placed in the video description.

[TimelessFive]

I have nothing but respect for Polish people, they are my brothers, my friends and my collogues. Long live Strong, innovative and Moral Poland. I have nothing but good words. Visited Warsaw 3 times, 1 time Krakow, 1 time Szczecin and the sea side. Highly recommend

[rhsmn]

as a Belarusian i wish my country had never been occupied by the regime and was allowed to join the club. the present situation, and being left behind by the neighbours who should be our closest friends, is making me beyond sad

[tomekm]

I am Pole and I've just recently visited Polish-Lithuanian borderlands by bike, including Sejny/Seinai County with Lithuanian minority and the small Lithuanian town Lazdijai or Łoździeje in Polish. The border is completely open with no controls and by looking at the license plates, it seems that people are visiting each other quite often.
I was curious about that place because of the articles that said that the area called Suwalki Gap is one of the most dangerous place in Europe because of the possible Russian and Belarussian attack but when you are there, it turns out that that's very peaceful place with beautiful nature and quaint villages, farmlands, forests and lakes. I've never seen so many storks in one area, definitely worth a visit!
When I was in a bilingual Polish municipality Puńsk/Punskas and there are many signs and advertisements that are in Polish and Lithuanian. There are a couple of nice restaurants that serve Lithuanian cuisine which is really good, that cold cucumber soup with potatoes is excellent at hot summer days!
I asked a lady in the shop that was speaking to the customers both in Lithuanian and Polish about the languages that people know there and she said almost everyone knows both Lithuanian and Polish to some level so I guess people are fine with both nationalities. Lithuania is awesome and all those animosities between our countries can be easily overcome by the time with the open borders 🇪🇺🇵🇱🇱🇹