Statement by Raimundas Lopata, Member of the Seimas: ‘The Seimas Committee for the Future will consider renaming Rusija (“Russia”) to Maskovija (“Moscovia”)’

Press release, 19 May 2023

The Seimas Committee for the Future opens a debate on whether it would make sense to change, on the basis of historical facts, the place name Rusija (“Russia”) to Maskovija (“Moscovia”).

Politicians will seek a solution on the basis of the insights of Alfredas Bumblauskas, Professor in History, which he will present to the Seimas in his report “Rosija and Maskovija: five lies and silences”.

According Professor Raimundas Lopata, Chair of the Seimas Committee for the Future and member of the Liberal Movement Political Group, the Russian President bases the war he is waging in Ukraine on a distorted and false history, so it is worth asking in Lithuania whether Russia’s historical role – like the very name of the country – is not perceived in the consciousness of Western countries in a distorted way.

‘We call Russia Rusija because that is what Russia calls itself in the first place. From the historical perspective of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, we will look for a more acceptable and accurate assessment of the historical role of this country for Lithuania and the Western countries than the Great Russian narrative that has taken root in the consciousness of Westerners. Accordingly, we will look at the best way to call the country that we traditionally call Rusija: whether it should be called Rosija or Maskovija, or otherwise,’ says R. Lopata.

The analysis presented by Mr Bumblauskas will include a broad assessment of Russia’s history, emphasising the concept of Rosija inherited from the Soviet Union, from which the core dimensions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – Kyiv and Vilnius – have been removed. The Professor will reveal the expropriation of the name Rusia (“Rus”) and the circumstances surrounding its conversion into Rosija, as well as other historical lies on the basis of which Maskovija usurped the names of Rusia and rusai (“Russians”).

The Professor will speak at the informal Forum “Intellectual Independence of Lithuania” organised by the Seimas Committee for the Future on 7 June and bringing together the country’s historians, philosophers, linguists, politicians.

For more information:

Raimundas Lopata,

Member of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence,

Member of the Liberal Movement Political Group of the Seimas,

Chair of the Seimas Committee for the Future,

tel. + 370 5 239 6351

e-mail: [email protected]