Skopje, 6 May 2023 (MIA) - I am proud that we have succeeded, as a country and as a nation, to incorporate the status of the Macedonian standard language in the European law. For it to be recognized and respected by our international friends, diplomats, statesmen, to be equal with all other languages spoken in the European Union, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in the address on occasion of May 5-Macedonian Language Day, as part of his visit to the United States.

PM Kovachevski said May 5 is a day to pay respect to the Macedonian language and all creators of the written, literary and standard Macedonian tongue, noting that the Government declared the day back in 2019 to honor 5 May 1945 when the government of the then-People's Republic of Macedonia adopted the Macedonian alphabet as the official script in the country.

Kovachevski referred to the challenges related to the practical introduction of the Macedonian language in the United Nations, NATO and the EU, adding that the signing of the Frontex agreement and its ratification put the Macedonian language on an equal footing with all other languages spoken in the European Union.

He said this was the first agreement signed in all EU languages and in Macedonian, and approved by all Union members, including Greece and Bulgaria.

"By protecting the Macedonian language, we have protected our identity and our culture, embedding them in the mosaic of European languages and European diversity. The Macedonian language shapes our identity and our cultural heritage, and therefore the condition that we did not concede from in the negotiations was that the Macedonian language is the only official language. There are no footnotes, suffixes, explanations, asterisks on the identity and the language - the Macedonian language is the Macedonian language!," said Kovachevski.

The PM said the language is the root for the nation's growth, the pillar of education, culture and national sense.

"By protecting the language, we have protected the essence of our existence. Incorporation of the Macedonian language in the global treasury of languages is one of the Government's priorities. In cooperation with the Macedonian Language Institute, we have supported activities for its continued affirmation, including among other things, web-platform www.makedonski.gov.mk that holds the digitized 'Dictionary of Macedonian Language'. I am proud this free-of-charge digital dictionary is available across the world, building on the prior initiative to digitize the Orthography of Macedonian Language," underlined PM Kovachevski.

Photo: Government