Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte introduced a draft bill to expand a compensation plan for Jewish property seized by the Nazis and Soviets.
She proposed that the Baltic state, whose Jewish community was decimated during the Holocaust, distribute 37 million euros ($38.4 million) in restitution for lost private property.
The plan comes a decade after Lithuania approved an equivalent compensation package for Jewish communal property seized during World War II.
With the new initiative, the EU member seeks to definitively settle the matter, which is regularly brought up by Jewish organizations at home and abroad.
“I believe this is an issue that Lithuania finally needs to resolve… I would like to submit this bill to parliament,” said Simonyte.
Lithuanian Jewish community leader Faina Kukliansky said that whether the legislation would end up passing was “a kind of test for the state.”
The draft bill reads that Jews whose property was seized and their heirs will be able to apply for compensation.
