The European Front coalition led by the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) in the opposition, on December 8 announced the launch of the "Language Guard" initiative, an action that, according to the organizers, aims to stop "political tendencies that undermine the Constitution and the Ohrid Agreement ".
From this coalition, they declared that they will stay in front of the Constitutional Court in Skopje, until the Law on Languages is considered, a law which is at the center of ongoing debates.
The constitutionalist is expected to review the much-discussed Law on Languages during a session on December 11.
"This law is not just a legal act. It is a symbol of the Ohrid Agreement, an agreement that ended the dark period of marginalization, exclusion and discrimination that led to the 2001 war and paved the way for peace, stability and coexistence. Any attempt to repeal this law is an attack on our historical achievements and a blow to inter-ethnic coexistence", said deputy Arbër Ademi on Sunday, in a press appearance before the Constitutional Court.
Ademi also commented on the statements of the Macedonian Prime Minister, Hristijan Mickoski. He called on Mickoski to abandon the "Macedonia is yours again" platform, which was used during the last parliamentary elections by his party, VMRO-DPMNE.
"A prime minister who is in charge of the executive power, should be of all citizens, and not of an ethnic group", Ademi added.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Mickoski, earlier in the day, said that on Wednesday (December 11), "nothing will happen". He accused DUI of creating inter-ethnic tensions.
"We have a situation where no one can intervene in the Constitutional Court... The only topic through which DUI is present in public is the creation of divisions on ethnic grounds. They deal only with ethnic issues, as they cannot impose other topics or attract people to support them", Mickoski said during a press conference on Sunday at the Government.
While the first deputy prime minister, Izet Mxhiti, from the Albanian coalition VLEN, part of the Government, said that the Albanian language has not been violated, but added that "the illegal assets of DUI, yes".
"I have an answer for all those who these days have screamed like mad to scare the Albanians and threaten destabilization: The game was burned down. Stay comfortable. The Albanian language will not be disputed", Mejhiti wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
The decision to evaluate the constitutionality of the law has caused strong political reactions, especially after the repeal of the Balancer mechanism on October 9, an instrument that regulated the "fair and adequate" representation of communities in state institutions.
DUI, a few days ago, again sent letters to the internationals, the United States, the European Union and NATO, asking them, as guarantors of the Ohrid Agreement, to intervene to prevent any possible decision to repeal the articles of the Law on Languages.
At the same time, on December 7, over 250 Albanian intellectuals signed an open letter addressed to the Constitutional Court, demanding that the latter act professionally and avoid politically motivated decisions. According to them, any arbitrary decision can have serious consequences for inter-ethnic relations in the country.
The law on the use of languages has been sitting on the shelves of the Constitutional Court for five years. This Law, which began to be discussed as early as 2017 and was approved in 2018, foresees the expanded use of the Albanian language. The matter related to the opposition to this law includes 13 initiatives submitted by citizens, political parties and various associations since 2019. REL (A2 Televizion)
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