Macedonian language protected; to become one of EU's official languages when country joins bloc
Skopje, 24 July 2022 (MIA) — The Government's position on the Macedonian language is consistent: it is non-negotiable and protected in the European Union, Minister of Culture Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska said in Ohrid on Saturday. Serbian Foreign Minister joined her in expressing respect for the Macedonian language — as did the Bulgarian members of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship Club, who publicly disapproved of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' document dismissing the language and stressed that although Sofia continues not to recognize the Macedonian language, when North Macedonia joins the Union, it will become one of the EU’s official languages.
“I’m not going to comment on other countries’ views. But I’d like to comment on the Republic of North Macedonia’s. We are not negotiating on our language, identity and culture,” Minister Kostadinovska Stojchevska said.
As part of the government delegation that attended the First Intergovernmental Conference on July 19, she said she was especially glad she spoke Macedonian at the start of EU talks in Brussels. “Our position is consistent,” she reiterated. “We are not negotiating on the language.”
She also said she had attended a session of the Macedonian Language Council on Friday. On behalf of the government, she said, she had assured the language scholars that “at no time during the entire process, even when we reached the moment of opening negotiations, no one has negotiated the Macedonian language, identity and culture.”
“How can anyone want to convince our nation that we don’t recognize the Macedonian language? We spoke Macedonian, we spoke Macedonian after the session where the majority of citizens and MPs supported the negotiation framework. Here we are speaking Macedonian today, as well. And no one can deny that,” the culture minister said.
Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković, also speaking in Ohrid on Saturday, expressed his support for North Macedonia's stance on the Macedonian language. “No culture can exist without language,” he said. “Last year, Macedonia celebrated the 100th anniversary of Blaže Koneski’s birth, a great jubilee important for our brotherly Macedonian people.
“As a sign of respect to my friends and hosts from the Republic of North Macedonia, the women and men from Ohrid, I spoke in Macedonian yesterday since I know how nice it is when someone comes to visit you from another country and shows their respect this way.
“By doing that I showed my respect not only for my hosts but also for the Macedonian language and the Macedonian culture, which that language gave birth to,” Serbia’s top diplomat said, talking to the press after the opening of Serbia’s Consulate in Ohrid.
Regarding Bulgaria's unilateral statement dismissing the Macedonian language, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj in a TV24 interview on Friday evening said: "It only means that Sofia is stating their position just as they stated it in the United Nations when the Macedonian language was included there."
"We have stated our position and we do not expect this matter to be mentioned further. We expect to sign in the near future the FRONTEX agreement in Macedonian, and Bulgaria will also sign it as one of the member states, so we consider this matter closed," Marichikj said.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian members of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship Club voiced their disapproval of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explicitly stating Bulgaria would continue not to recognize the Macedonian language. In a written statement, the Bulgarian members of the Friendship Club said the declaration from the Bulgarian MFA unnecessarily complicates relations and prevents the countries from establishing closer ties, serving no one but people in both countries profiting from the language dispute.
“The Macedonian literary language, formed on dialects that remained for historical and political reasons outside the creation processes of the Bulgarian literary language, has existed for at least 70 years. It has not been a ‘Bulgarian dialect’ for a long time, because unlike any dialect, it is used in all spheres of public life: in schools, hospitals, administrative offices, in the army and the police, in science and the arts. It has created its own literary tradition, which has its own significant achievements," the statement says.
They point out that the Macedonian language and Macedonian literature are studied at a number of the most prestigious universities in the world, benefiting not only the citizens of North Macedonia, but also the influential Macedonian diaspora. More importantly, they stress, Macedonian is the native language of generations of Macedonians and ”just as intimate, close and sacred as the Bulgarian language is for Bulgarians.”
“It cannot be taken away from them without their own identity being unfairly and offensively threatened,” the statement says, adding that it is “implausible to claim that this language does not exist and that it was artificially made.”
Hence, Bulgaria’s MFA officially declaring it does not “recognize” the Macedonian language is unnecessary and counterproductive, according to the Bulgarian members of the Friendship Club.
“No literary and linguistic norm that thousands, if not millions, of people identify with needs any special permission for its existence,” they say, adding that such public gestures are damaging to democracy and mutual respect.
“Baffling to other EU members, this declaration only leads to their continued bewilderment and the isolation of Bulgaria in the EU. In no way does it contribute to the EU integration of the Western Balkans. If the Republic of North Macedonia is accepted as a full member of the EU, this needs to be done without placing any offensive terms and baffling conditions on the Macedonians,” the statement reads.
“International treaties are signed in Macedonian, and the other 26 EU members have implicitly recognized that after the potential accession of North Macedonia to the EU, the language will automatically become one of the Union’s official languages,” the statement points out. mr/
As part of the government delegation that attended the First Intergovernmental Conference on July 19, she said she was especially glad she spoke Macedonian at the start of EU talks in Brussels. “Our position is consistent,” she reiterated. “We are not negotiating on the language.”
She also said she had attended a session of the Macedonian Language Council on Friday. On behalf of the government, she said, she had assured the language scholars that “at no time during the entire process, even when we reached the moment of opening negotiations, no one has negotiated the Macedonian language, identity and culture.”
“How can anyone want to convince our nation that we don’t recognize the Macedonian language? We spoke Macedonian, we spoke Macedonian after the session where the majority of citizens and MPs supported the negotiation framework. Here we are speaking Macedonian today, as well. And no one can deny that,” the culture minister said.
Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković, also speaking in Ohrid on Saturday, expressed his support for North Macedonia's stance on the Macedonian language. “No culture can exist without language,” he said. “Last year, Macedonia celebrated the 100th anniversary of Blaže Koneski’s birth, a great jubilee important for our brotherly Macedonian people.
“As a sign of respect to my friends and hosts from the Republic of North Macedonia, the women and men from Ohrid, I spoke in Macedonian yesterday since I know how nice it is when someone comes to visit you from another country and shows their respect this way.
“By doing that I showed my respect not only for my hosts but also for the Macedonian language and the Macedonian culture, which that language gave birth to,” Serbia’s top diplomat said, talking to the press after the opening of Serbia’s Consulate in Ohrid.
Regarding Bulgaria's unilateral statement dismissing the Macedonian language, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj in a TV24 interview on Friday evening said: "It only means that Sofia is stating their position just as they stated it in the United Nations when the Macedonian language was included there."
"We have stated our position and we do not expect this matter to be mentioned further. We expect to sign in the near future the FRONTEX agreement in Macedonian, and Bulgaria will also sign it as one of the member states, so we consider this matter closed," Marichikj said.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian members of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship Club voiced their disapproval of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explicitly stating Bulgaria would continue not to recognize the Macedonian language. In a written statement, the Bulgarian members of the Friendship Club said the declaration from the Bulgarian MFA unnecessarily complicates relations and prevents the countries from establishing closer ties, serving no one but people in both countries profiting from the language dispute.
“The Macedonian literary language, formed on dialects that remained for historical and political reasons outside the creation processes of the Bulgarian literary language, has existed for at least 70 years. It has not been a ‘Bulgarian dialect’ for a long time, because unlike any dialect, it is used in all spheres of public life: in schools, hospitals, administrative offices, in the army and the police, in science and the arts. It has created its own literary tradition, which has its own significant achievements," the statement says.
They point out that the Macedonian language and Macedonian literature are studied at a number of the most prestigious universities in the world, benefiting not only the citizens of North Macedonia, but also the influential Macedonian diaspora. More importantly, they stress, Macedonian is the native language of generations of Macedonians and ”just as intimate, close and sacred as the Bulgarian language is for Bulgarians.”
“It cannot be taken away from them without their own identity being unfairly and offensively threatened,” the statement says, adding that it is “implausible to claim that this language does not exist and that it was artificially made.”
Hence, Bulgaria’s MFA officially declaring it does not “recognize” the Macedonian language is unnecessary and counterproductive, according to the Bulgarian members of the Friendship Club.
“No literary and linguistic norm that thousands, if not millions, of people identify with needs any special permission for its existence,” they say, adding that such public gestures are damaging to democracy and mutual respect.
“Baffling to other EU members, this declaration only leads to their continued bewilderment and the isolation of Bulgaria in the EU. In no way does it contribute to the EU integration of the Western Balkans. If the Republic of North Macedonia is accepted as a full member of the EU, this needs to be done without placing any offensive terms and baffling conditions on the Macedonians,” the statement reads.
“International treaties are signed in Macedonian, and the other 26 EU members have implicitly recognized that after the potential accession of North Macedonia to the EU, the language will automatically become one of the Union’s official languages,” the statement points out. mr/ 
