Good Law on Use of Languages poorly implemented
(RTK2)
On the occasion of the European Day of Languages, a roundtable was held in Prizren, where implementation of Law on the Use of Languages was discussed. The Law is good, but its implementation often lags behind. This is what was highlighted at the meeting, which, besides students and teachers of communities in Prizren, was also attended by the Commissioner for Languages in Prime Minister’s Office.
Ksenija Lutvic, a third grade student in Prizren Gymnasium, besides Bosniak, which is her mother tongue, speaks Albanian and English; in addition, at school she also studies two more languages, French and German. She says that because of that, she has no communication problems with her peers from other communities, which is not the case with other Bosniaks who cannot speak Albanian. She believes that they are discriminated against, and highlights that she is not happy with the official use of Bosniak language in Prizren.
“Bosniak is hardly used as an official language, which is not good, because there are many people who live outside Prizren, who, unlike us who live in town, have not been much in touch with Albanian language, and so they cannot communicate. For example, they go to public institutions, such as the Municipality, and they fail to get the service they want, because they cannot speak Albanian good enough,” she said.
On marking European Day of Languages, respecting language rights in Prizren was discussed in the Municipality premises. Sadik Idrizi, professor and vice rector ad the Public University of Prizren, says that communication amongst students of different communities is good, but central and local institutions violate Law on the Use of Languages.
“There are many deficiencies in official institutions in Prizren; one can notice in every step and in every institution that language rights are not respected at the appropriate level. I have often insisted and presented my position that learning other languages is necessary. Kosovo cannot be a society in which people can communicate, unless they learn each other’s languages,” Idrizi said.
The meeting was also attended by the Language Commissioner Slavisa Mladenovic, who stated that currently implementation of Law on the Use of Languages is not a priority.
“Currently, languages are no one’s priority. As you can see, the priorities are EU integration, Association, demarcation and some crucial big political issues, so probably language has been postponed for some other time,” Mladenovic said.
Besides Albanian and Serbian, Bosniak and Turkish are also official languages in use in Prizren. Professor Kujtim Pacaku said that last year an initiative was taken so that Romani language can gain the status of a traditional language is use.
“Bearing in mind that all those elements, history, culture, language, traditions, and customs have been fostered by this people for centuries, why we shouldn’t use this Law that derives from the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, to introduce it as a traditional language in use,” Pacaku highlighted.
The current situation is not convenient to ethnic Roma children, who are compelled to be educated in languages of other communities, Jasim Misini, a Prizren Gymnasium student, said.
“I think that Romani language should become an official language, especially in |Prizren, because many Roma live here. Children are discriminated, because they attend school in Bosniak, Turkish, and Albanian language. They can speak and they have learned all those languages, but unfortunately they may not use their mother tongue at schools and institutions,” he explained.
In addition to Bosniak and Turkish students, the meeting was also attended by their peers from Albanian community.
The roundtable on implementation of Law on the Use of Languages was organised by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
Language doesn’t represent barrier to Plemetin schoolchildren
(RTK2)
The fact that language does not necessarily represent a barrier was proved by students of primary schools that operate in accordance with Serbian and Kosovo system in Plemetin. They showed how a foreign language is respected, and how mother tongue is loved and fostered.
In order to emphasise the importance of language, the Office of Language Commissioner in cooperation with the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, marked the European Day of Languages with various activities. The activities were carried out with students of primary schools in Plemetin that work with Serbian and Kosovo educational system respectively.
European Day of Languages was marked at the schoolyard in Plemetin, where Sveti Sava primary school functions in accordance with Serbia’s educational system, and Pandeli Sotiri primary school functions in accordance with Kosovo’s educational system. Students of those schools were given the assignment to write an essay on the topic how important is language.
“Language is culture which represents a certain people, it is crucial to speak other languages as well,” one of the students of those schools says.
“Besides our language, there are also other languages that are of great importance and that make it possible for us to find jobs and to communicate everywhere in the world,” the student highlighted.
This is the third year that activities on the occasion of the European Day of Languages have been organised by the Office of Language Commissioner in cooperation with the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
“Language is crucial for all of us. It helps us to communicate and to understand each other. It also helps us overcome some misunderstanding we encounter when speaking. That is the reason why the rights to languages are very important from childhood to adulthood, “said Roberto Di Donatantonio of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
“Today we brought promotion materials to Plemetin, in order to inform students who attend education in Serbian and Albanian languages. The goal is that young people get to know each other and to as much as possible get committed in learning international languages, but the most important thing is that we learn each others’ languages, so that in the future we can communicate without any problems,” Safete Grajćevci of the Office of Language Commissioner said.
Even though they work with different educational systems and speak different languages, teachers and students of Sveti Sava and Pandeli Sotiri primary schools get on well to each other.
“In essence it works well. They are young children and in their age it is normal that quarrels and alike happen, but so far no serious incident has occurred,” Jelena Dejanović, Pedagogue at Sveti Sava primary school, said.
“There are 450 students at our School and as far as functioning is concerned, we have good relations, so far we have not had any problems at all. I think that everybody should take our schools as a model how two schools can function sharing the schoolyard,” Bedri Naziri, principal of Pandeli Sotiri primary school said.
OSCE organises joint meeting with Serb and Albanian journalists
(RTK2)
Solving common problems requires joint work and intensive cooperation in order to improve safety of journalists and their work conditions, as well as finding out about the fate of missing colleagues, namely proceeding the cases. This was stated amongst other things at the joint meeting of Serb and Albanian journalists, which took place in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë on Tuesday, organised by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
Radio Kontakt Plus reported that in the third joint meeting of journalists, besides the issues that they currently face in Kosovo, journalists also discussed developing a joint action plan of the Association of Kosovo Journalists and Association of Serbian Journalists in Kosovo.
Parallel Court in north Mitrovica/Mitrovicë still functional
(Klan Kosova)
At the premises of Serbian parallel Court in north Mitrovica/Mitrovicë, ordinary work happened on Tuesday. In fact, the Court shall cease to function soon, following the agreement made in Brussels between presidents Thaçi and Vucic on implementation of the Justice Settlement which had been reached a few years ago.
The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) officials say that they are making preparations so that on 17th October everything can be ready to extend Kosovo judiciary to the troublesome north. According to them, presently KJC will deal with functionalising the system, and in the second phase it will be decided how north courts will deal with cases to be received from the Serbian system.
But people in the north have a different opinion. Dusan Radakovic, who deals with extending Kosovo justice system in north, says that full functionalisation of Kosovo courts and prosecutor’s office may happen only in March 2018. In addition, Radakovic said that both sides confirmed that many of the judicial proceedings that are in hands of Serbian system will be transferred to the Kosovo one.
However, the only Serb judge is very sceptical that the integrated judiciary system can be fully functional from the beginning.
Nevertheless, whenever the Kosovo judicial system starts its regular work in north, the staff is ready, at least in number. KJC confirmed that 48 judges will be hired, as well as 115 support staff members, in addition to nine Serb and nine Albanian prosecutors.
