Arianit Hoxha of the DUI said today that failure to implement the Law on the Use of Languages is becoming a worrying trend in North Macedonia’s state institutions.
According to him, the latest complaint is based on sources within the Public Health Institute. Hoxha said the current director, Marija Andonovska, had instructed all departments to conduct official communication only in Macedonian.
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He said that, according to the information available to him, department heads had been asked to notify employees by text message that bilingual documents would no longer be accepted. Under the alleged instruction, only documents drafted in Macedonian would be considered valid.
Hoxha asked what right the head of a state institution had to declare documents containing the Albanian language invalid, and who had given her the authority to place herself above the law.
He said the silence of VLEN representatives was equally troubling. He accused them not only of failing to defend the Albanian language, but also of ignoring what he described as flagrant violations of the law.
Instead of using legal and institutional means to ensure the law was implemented, VLEN representatives had chosen not to react, according to Hoxha. He questioned the point of their participation in government if they could not defend compliance with a law that was already in force.
Hoxha said this silence could no longer be viewed merely as political incompetence, since, in his view, it was emboldening officials who violate the law.
He linked the case at the Public Health Institute to a report on North Macedonia published by the Council of Europe just a few days earlier. Hoxha described it as the most negative report on the country and said it explicitly mentioned problems with respect for linguistic rights.
According to him, the report should have served as a wake-up call for the government. Instead, Hoxha said, officials were acting as if they were above the law, while political representatives failed to react.
Addressing the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, he called for its officials’ actions to be carefully reviewed and for concrete accountability over failure to respect the Law on the Use of Languages.
Hoxha also called on the Inspectorate for the Use of Languages to stop remaining passive and begin carrying out the duty for which it was established.
According to him, the Inspectorate should immediately begin institutional oversight and take appropriate legal action against anyone who violates the law in force, regardless of their position or political affiliation.
Hoxha concluded by stressing that implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages does not depend on anyone’s wishes and cannot be part of political horse-trading: it is an obligation for everyone.
