Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that his Government will be ready to implement the decision of the Venice Commission on the controversial law on the use of the Albanian language. The Council of Europe’s Commission found that the law, which is key to keeping Zaev’s coalition with Albanian parties such as DUI together, will undermine Macedonia’s judiciary and the public administration as it attempts to turn Macedonia into a fully bilingual country. Meanwhile, some in Zaev’s Government moved to insist that the opinion is still preliminary, while a DUI official said it threatens the inter-ethnic peace in Macedonia.
Everything they recommend is at the level of European practices and we want to learn from the Venice Commission. We said we will respect the Venice Commission once it gives its final opinion, because what is more important for us, to have the rule of law and to have justice or to use a language? In the end we will give our opinion and they can shape their opinion, said Zaev.
Zaev was asked about the threatening comment from Grubi, and replied that politicians can sometime say “stupid things”.
The Prime Minister then encouraged Albanians to continue using their language in accordance with the law.
The announcement from the Venice Commission comes as Zaev is making a new push to water down the Macedonian character of the country, through a strategy he calls “one society for all”. He was evasive at the question whether this strategy will include a requirement for Macedonian school kids to learn the Albanian language.
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