The deputies of the European Front in the opposition, led by the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), have reacted to the statement of the Speaker of the Assembly, Afrim Gashi, who said on Thursday night that "the Macedonian language is the only official language in North Macedonia" .
In a press conference in front of the Assembly, the coalition declared that Gashi's statement "constitutes an open lie and a serious betrayal of the Albanian people".
"It is shocking, but not surprising, that Mr. Gashi, as a person selected to serve as a puppet in the highest hierarchy of the state, has fallen so low, reaching levels of self-abasement that even the most ardent anti-Albanians have not dared to touch This shameful act of subjugation and betrayal shows his lack of integrity, but also his willingness to undermine the constitutional principles of this country", declared on December 27, Arbana Pasholli, deputy from the ranks of the European Front.
Gashi, during a debate on Alsat television, said, among other things, that the Albanian language is not an official language, but in official use, and that the same, as Gashi added, "is a translated language".
One of the leaders of the Albanian VLEN coalition, part of the Macedonian Government, Arben Taravari, at the same time Minister of Health, also defended Gashi's position, who stated the same.
"We can have puns all we want. The Albanian language is not equal to the Macedonian language. We all agree here. Before 1991, before independence, the official languages in [North] Macedonia, according to the Constitution, were Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish. Now it is the Macedonian language and 20% of the population speak the Albanian language. So, we have to work in this direction, and shall we say whether it is official or not, it is this way or that way, it is not equal. We must insist, even try, that the Albanian language remains as a word, not as a percentage", Taravari said on Friday in front of journalists.
However, the European Front recalled the fifth amendment of the Constitution of North Macedonia.
"Let's remind Mr. Gashi of some indisputable facts: The fifth amendment clearly defines the Albanian language as an official language, alongside the Macedonian language. The law on the use of languages further consolidates the use of the Albanian language as official in all spheres of public life", Pasholli added.
What does the fifth amendment say?
In the entire territory of the Republic of Macedonia and in its international relations, the official language is the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic alphabet. Another language spoken by at least 20% of the citizens (Albanian language) is also the official language and its alphabet, as defined by this article.
Personal documents of citizens who speak an official language other than the Macedonian language are issued in the Macedonian language and its alphabet, as well as in that language and its alphabet, in accordance with the law.
The law on the use of languages, which has been at the center of discussions in recent years, was approved in 2018 and entered into force in 2019. This law consists of 25 articles and the main changes it brought were: the use of the Albanian language even in court proceedings, in banknotes and in police uniforms.
The party of the Macedonian Prime Minister, Hristiajn Mickoski, VMRO-DPMNE, which in 2018 was in the opposition, while now in power, along with 12 other initiatives, strongly opposed the adoption of the law, did not participate in the vote and sent this document immediately to the Constitutional Court.
On December 11 of this year, the Constitutional Court failed to reach a decision on the constitutionality of the Law on Languages, thus postponing the hearing due to the boycott by two Albanian judges, Osman Kadriu and Naser Ajdari.
Second session on March 20
The President of the Constitutional Court, Darko Kostadinovski, on December 24 confirmed that the next preparatory session of the Law on the use of languages will be held on March 20, 2025.
On December 23, Kostadinsovski had confirmed that the list of names for the hearing included 20 names, as experts in constitutional law, international law and former judges from the European Court of Human Rights, who will be invited to given their opinions. As for the two Albanian judges, Osman Kadriu and Naser Ajdari, Kostadinsovski expects them to be present and present their legal arguments.
The law on the use of languages has been sitting on the shelves of the Constitutional Court for five years.
The balancer, the mechanism that regulated the "fair and adequate" representation of non-Macedonians in state institutions in this country, now abolished, and the Law of Languages was included in the agenda a few months after VMRO DPMNE took power in North Macedonia./ REL (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
