Prime Minister Zoran Zaev confirmed that his Government asked the Venice Commission to postpone the publication of its opinion on the controversial law that makes Macedonia a fully bilingual country – with the Albanian language elevated to the same official use as the Macedonian. Zaev pushed forward the law despite the fact that it violates clauses of the Constitution driven by political necessity – to maintain his coalition with ethnic Albanian parties – and the announced negative opinion from the Venice Commission threatens to undermine his standing.

The Government asked for time to analyze their arguments. we will provide our response and will wait for their final decision. We informed that this document submitted to us is a draft document, and we need time to see their analysis. We are weighing the issues of the law against the right to use a language. If the latter undermines the former it is questionable whether the citizens will need that right, Zaev said.