Members of the Seimas propose to change the design of road signs: they call for abandoning the Soviet standard

According to members of the Seimas, the road signs currently valid and used in the Republic of Lithuania, depending on their design, are identical (the vast majority) or similar to the road signs approved during the occupation of the USSR (according to the Soviet standard GOST 10807-78). Road signs in Lithuania also use the same font from the Soviet standard GOST 10807-78 (this font was specially created for road signs in the USSR).

Members of the Seimas point out that the graphic design and font of road signs used in Lithuania are identical or similar to road signs used in Russia, Belarus and other post-Soviet countries, as they are also produced and used according to the same Soviet standard. Latvia and Estonia, unlike Lithuania, have long since changed the graphic design of their road signs and use different fonts.

“Lithuania has not only identified itself with the Western world for more than 30 years, but is also a part of it. We do not associate our identity with the former USSR states stuck in the post-Soviet space, even more so with Russia or Belarus. In the course of Russia’s war against Ukraine and against the entire democratic Western world, we are trying to sever all links with the criminal authoritarian regimes of Russia and Belarus. However, after crossing the Lithuanian-Russian or Lithuanian-Belarusian borders, we are greeted by the same or very similar Soviet standard road signs with the same Soviet font. We are able to remove Soviet boulders from city squares, move soldiers’ cemeteries, it is time to give up these Soviet relics as well”, says Seimas member Andrius Vyšniauskas.

In a letter initiated by members of the Seimas, the Ministry of Transport states that in order to change the design of road signs from the time of the Soviet Union, it is necessary to create road signs with their own graphic design – close or similar to the road signs used in the European Union countries. According to the members of the Seimas, these changes could be implemented within the next 10 years, as most of the road signs in the country are basically updated during that time.

Members of the Seimas note that this initiative is not new and that it comes up all the time, but the Ministry of Transport has not taken the initiative so far. The press release states that it is expected that as the process of de-Sovietization gradually accelerates, this time it will be possible to find a consensus on the replacement of road signs.