Skopje, 5 May 2023 (MIA) - European Union Ambassador David Geer told Friday's panel on affirmation of the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic letter that the day when North Macedonia joins the EU as a member-state, the Macedonian language will become part of the family of EU languages and an official Union language.

"There are 24 official languages in the EU. There are other languages that we foster within the EU and all these languages are part of our collective identity. I am more than certain that the day when North Macedonia becomes an EU member-state will also make the Macedonian language part of the family of EU languages and an official Union language," said Ambassador Geer.

The Macedonian language will strengthen further, he added, through the army of translators and interpreters who will work on the translation of the EU Acquis.

"The entire legislation will be translated in Macedonian so the EU membership will make your language our language, part of the collective family of European Union languages, further strengthening it. This is why the EU provides huge support to the promotion of the Macedonian language. The Union has already funded the translation of 400 literary works, i.e. novels by European authors translated in Macedonian. Moreover, the Union provides financial support to the annual award 'Babylon' for young translators," noted Geer.

He added that the EU is also supporting numerous campaigns to promote the Macedonian language, including the recent launch of the campaign to promote the language through work "Birth of the Word" by Aco Shopov, which also included an exhibit that attracted large interest from the youth.

"When talking about language, it represents something intimate and personal for every nation, providing a direct link to its history. It is a reservoir that collects everything, starting from who we are, our knowledge, our awareness, our history, our experience. When we speak about our history as part of our past, who we are and where we come from, it is no surprise that since the very beginnings of the legal profession, all cases related to human rights and issues linked to the language and the education, which is directly tied to our identity," said Geer.

Culture Minister Bisera Kostadinovska-Stojchevska, Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj, representatives from the Macedonian Language Institute, the Macedonian Literature Institute, the Macedonian Language Council and the Seminar on Macedonian of Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture also took part in the discussion, which focused on several topics related to the protection and affirmation of the language, the draft-law on use of the Macedonian language, digitization of files in the Macedonian Language Institute, the survival of the Macedonian language up to its standardization in 1945, language in media and other aspects.

Photo: MIA archive