Each year, on 26 September, the European Day of Languages is celebrated on the initiative of the Council of Europe. The law on bilingualism in Kosovo is not respected consistently, and the websites of official institutions are often full of nonsense, reports KIM radio.
“Language is an integral part of the communities in Kosovo, an element that gathers people. For this reason, this day should be promoted in Kosovo and throughout Europe. Language is an indicator of rights and freedoms and is one of the main European values, and that is that we are united in diversity,” said Dinka Živalj from the EU Office in Kosovo.
Learning a foreign language can help us better understand each other and easily overcome cultural and other differences.
The Commissioner for Languages Slaviša Mladenović told KIM radio about the situation of the Serbian language in Kosovo:
“In many institutions, the law on bilingualism is not respected consistently, I think we can list on fingers how many institutions there are that respect it. I think that there is no progress even when it comes to learning other languages, especially in formal education, and our office is in constant struggle with that”.
A flying glance at the official websites of the Kosovo institutions reveals a bunch of language problems and words without any sense when you wish to read their content in Serbian.
“Serbian language is official in Kosovo, and there is no compromise. The government advocates equality of language, but in practical terms, it has errors in everyday use. A society should be built in which everyone will be able to freely use their mother tongue, which in this case is guaranteed to the Serbs by the Constitution, “said Halil Matoshi from the Government’s Public Communications Office.
Writer and journalist Živojin Rakočević also spoke about the “fight against windmills”, when it comes to the use of the Serbian language in the official institutions in Kosovo.
“We have cases where someone pours words at you with an albanized construction and untranslatable expressions and they say ‘yes, it’s the Serbian language’. Here you understand what your position is, that you live in a system that even your language wants to subordinate to its own rules, ignorance and by disregarding European laws that govern this area after 1999 in Kosovo,” Rakočević said.
