The European Front coalition, led by the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) in opposition, announced the launch of the “Language Guard” initiative on December 8. According to the organizers, the initiative aims to stop “political tendencies that undermine the Constitution and the Ohrid Agreement.”
The coalition stated that they will stand in front of the Constitutional Court in Skopje until the review of the Language Law, a law that remains at the center of ongoing debates.
The Constitutional Court is expected to review the much-discussed Language Law 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, which led to the 2001 war and opened the path to peace, stability, and coexistence. Any attempt to annul this law is an attack on our historical achievements and a blow to interethnic coexistence,” said MP Arbër Ademi on Sunday, speaking to the press in front of the Constitutional Court.
Ademi also commented on the statements made by Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski. He called on Mickoski to abandon the “Macedonia Again Yours” platform, which was used during the last parliamentary elections by his party, VMRO-DPMNE.
“A prime minister who is at the head of the executive power must represent all citizens, not just one ethnicity,” Ademi added.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Mickoski earlier on Sunday said that “nothing will happen” on December 11.
He accused the BDI of creating interethnic tensions.
“We have a situation where no one can intervene in the Constitutional Court… The only topic through which the BDI is present in the public is the creation of divisions on ethnic grounds. They only address ethnic issues because they cannot impose other topics or attract people to support them,” Mickoski said at a press conference on Sunday at the Government.
Meanwhile, the First Deputy Prime Minister Izet Mexhiti, from the Albanian coalition VLEN, part of the Government, stated that the Albanian language has not been violated but added that “BDI’s illegal assets have been.”
“For all those who have been screaming like crazy these days to scare Albanians and threaten destabilization, I have an answer: The game is over. Stay calm. The Albanian language will not be contested,” Mexhiti wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
The decision to assess the constitutionality of the law has sparked strong political reactions, especially after the annulment of the Balancing Mechanism on October 9, an instrument that regulated the “fair and adequate” representation of communities in state institutions.
The BDI, days earlier, sent letters to international institutions, including the United States, the European Union, and NATO, requesting them as guarantors of the Ohrid Agreement to intervene to prevent any possible decision to annul the provisions of the Language Law.
At the same time, on December 7, over 250 Albanian intellectuals signed an open letter to the Constitutional Court, calling on the Court to act with professionalism and avoid politically motivated decisions. According to them, any arbitrary decision could lead to severe consequences for interethnic relations in the country.
The Language Law has been pending in the drawers of the Constitutional Court for five years. This law, which began discussions as early as 2017 and was adopted in 2018, provides for the expanded use of the Albanian language. The case related to the opposition of this law includes 13 initiatives submitted by citizens, political parties, and various associations since 2019. /REL
