Ethnic street signs raise old tensions over identity in Lithuania

A man walks past Tatar street signs in Lithuanian and Tatar languages in Vilnius, Lithuania, September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS (Reuters) - The Lithuanian language sign in Vilnius's former Jewish quarter reads "Jewish Street" and below hangs a Hebrew version, with Star of David. Not far away, in Cyrillic letters, is the plaque announcing Russia Street, and then there is Warsaw Street.

A rash of new foreign language signs has appeared in Vilnius's narrow thoroughfares honouring ethnic minorities that have inhabited the city, not least a Jewish community destroyed by Nazi occupiers. But government is determined to banish them in a dispute mirroring tension over the Baltic state's identity.