According to the Law on Use of Languages, Serbian and Albanian are the official languages in Kosovo. Radio kontakt plus reported its interlocutors consider this law as good, however the same cannot be said for its implementation.

Journalist and Voice of America correspondent Budimir Nicic told Radio kontakt plus that Serbian language in accordance with the Kosovo laws has equal status as Albanian, however in practice the Serbian language is in unenviable condition, since the Law on Use of Languages in not respected.

“Even ten years after the adoption of the law, there are many institutions whose obligation is to respect bilingualism and they are not doing so, and yet they remain unpunished for that,” Nicic stressed.

He recalled there is a Language Commissioner in the Kosovo Government, whose job is to control and monitor respect of the use of official languages, but also to resolve existing problems, and even have a mandate to punish those who do not respect the law on the use of languages.

“However, as much as I know, he signed no penalty for the violations of the Law on Use of Languages. He did make influence by appeals and reminders to certain institutions, and some of them have improved their practices since then, however many continue working in an old fashion and fully disregarding the Serbian language as an official language in Kosovo,” Nicic added.

Boban Simic from NGO Aktiv office in Pristina said they are regularly monitoring the work of Assembly committees, and it happens quite often that translation into Serbian language is not provided.

“It is very difficult for the Serbian civil sector to follow the work of Assembly committees if translation is not provided, it is almost impossible,” Simic noted.

Writer and journalist from Gracanica, Zivojin Rakocevic told Radio kontakt plus the Serbian language in Kosovo is in a situation “of a permanent retreat” since the number of those speaking that language constantly declines and the fear to use the Serbian languages grows day by day.

He noted that since 1999, the Serbian language in Kosovo became a language people are marked with, and placed on the other side, adding the language was a reason for your life to be in jeopardy, to be killed because of it and to feel rather endangered.

According to Rakocevic, Kosovo institutions to the highest extent do not respect the right to bilingualism.