Kosovo with good language law, not fully implemented

So said today at a forum on respect for language rights, organised by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

O High Commissioner The SEU for National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier, said respect for language rights is essential to ensuring access to public institutions.

He said that when laws are incompatible with official languages, communities are unable to realise their rights, which leads to marginalisation, in difficulty in access to police, judiciary or media.

Zannier said the integration of Serbian judges and prosecutors would be weakened if the laws are not well translated and the verbal translation is not available. According to him, such translation is vital for communities to be represented.

It is important to enable interaction processes with government officials. I still see signs in Kosovo, for example, in the judicial system, in educational systems, progress requires communication and the opportunity for communities to interact in their languages with public administrations, and such an action can provide security for citizens, protect human rights and ensure good and effective governance, and overcome divisions among communities. Failure to deliver laws and directives in official languages will continue to hinder progress, and that is then the essence of the many challenges facing”, he said.

He said there is no doubt that the development of linguistic skills and the Polyglot administration is a long-term process that requires considerable effort, but it must be understandable that time has passed and these obstacles must be overcome.

While, O Mission Chief The SEU in Kosovo, Ian Braathu, said there are differences between different linguistic versions of official documents and laws.

There are various linguistic versions of official documents and then laws. This happens despite the fact that both languages are equal and equal official, it leads to some kind of confusion when, for example, the judge faces two different linguistic versions of the same law, both have the same application but say something else. This sometimes robs people of access to justice, that is, when they are unable to understand their rights or the law in their official language. We believe there are two immediate steps that can facilitate the implementation of legal protection regarding legal rights. First, a language strategy must be adopted, and the second step is to establish an accelerated legal basis for correcting non-communications in laws”, he said.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said that even though the country's Constitution is highly advanced, much remains to be done in implementing linguistic rights.

Our “Constitution is quite advanced, as it was said about language rights and, as it said, we are a bilingual country, Albanian and Serbian are official languages, but we are having a lot to do in the sense of implementing law and such rights. However, we must continue with our dedication and make sure that municipalities where there are other communities like Bosniaks, Roma and others to give them the opportunity that is provided by law, but also give them the opportunity to enjoy their rights, can be applied in their respective languages. The Kosovo government is well aware that there is much work to be done and not only in legislation, but also in daily work”, Haradinaj said.

Haradinaj also said that Government meetings are held in two languages, which he described as very challenging, but that there is commitment and commitment in that direction,

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Kthim and Community Dalibor Yevtic has said these problems for languages should be resolved with concrete steps.

According to the minister, it has been possible to work even more in this direction, as has been done in the ministry he leads, where no document has been issued without translating into all official languages.

The ministry where I serve can serve as an example, how we have dealt with this issue in the past few years. No document has emerged from the Ministry for Kthim and Communists in only one language, has always appeared in official languages. We have set a different example and I want to say that it is also up to us institutions to show by our concrete examples that we can change something and not just expect the office of language commissioner” to direct our attention to problems, he said.

Austria's Ambassador Switzerland, Finland and Belgium also attended this forum for respect of linguistic rights in Kosovo.