Comments about the language open a debate in North Macedonia

2024-09-01 20:05:39, Kosova & Bota CNA

The comments of the president of the Constitutional Court of North Macedonia that there is a possibility of repealing the "Language Law" have provoked strong reactions among all Albanian political parties, which estimate that any interference with the law may harm the official use of the Albanian language. and this would have serious consequences for the country.

Darko Kostadinovski, president of the Constitutional Court, stated in an interview for the state news agency MIA that the Law on the Use of Languages ??"has created a kind of legal chaos, which has resulted in political chaos, mistrust and dilemmas".

Kostadinovski emphasized that the law can be repealed, revised by making changes in certain provisions or remain as it is.

His comments follow the initiative of the Macedonian nationalist party "Left", sent to the Constitutional Court after the adoption of the law in 2019.

The "Language Law" gives a significant advancement to the use of the Albanian language by giving it the status of the official language, alongside Macedonian in the municipalities where Albanians make up 20 percent of the population, as well as in communication with high state institutions.

Kostadinovski further emphasized in the interview that "the Constitutional Court in no case makes political decisions, but constitutional decisions which undoubtedly affect important political issues and processes in the state, but that things, according to him, should not be viewed with emotions".

These comments have met the strong reaction of the European Front, led by the Democratic Union for Integration, which estimates that it is a deliberate scenario of the government to provoke Albanians.

"Don't touch the Albanian language!", says a communiqué of the European Front, which notes that the opening of topics like this and any eventual decision in the direction of violating the mechanisms and rights stemming from the Ohrid Agreement, is nothing else but the return of North Macedonia to the time before the Ohrid Agreement.

"These statements and actions are the real scenarios for the destabilization of the country and clearly show who they are who want and provoke tensions", emphasizes the European Front.

Meanwhile, the parties of the "Vlen" coalition, which is part of the government coalition, see the initiative to deny bilingualism as an attempt at a coup d'état in North Macedonia.

"Vlen" emphasizes through a communique that if such an initiative is eventually approved, then "Pandora's Box" is opened and a number of processes achieved with a lot of effort are endangered.

Both the European Front and "Vlen" say that the dilemmas have been consumed and resolved in the most powerful legislative institution, the Parliament with an overwhelming majority of votes.

The Agency for the Implementation of Languages ??has also reacted, which assesses as a dangerous adventure the efforts to reduce the fundamental right to use the Albanian language.

Meanwhile, the ruling Macedonian parties VMRO-DPMNE and the opposition Social Democratic League have not commented on the warnings of the head of the Constitutional Court.

The law on the use of languages ??stems from the Ohrid Agreement that ended the armed conflict between Albanian insurgents and Macedonian military and police forces in 2001./ VOA