Speaker Xhaferi: Law on languages presents no threat to Macedonia’s unitary status

The law on languages doesn’t present a threat to Macedonia’s unitary character, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi says in an interview with Serbia’s daily ‘Poltika’, published on Saturday.

‘The usage of languages is clearly regulated by the amendment 5 of Macedonia’s Constitution. However, a tendency is present in some situations for the legislation to be interpreted in line with the interests of certain parties, imposing the need of precise regulation of the matter, which is exactly the role of a draft-law on the use of languages. It is true that it enables for the parliament sessions to be presided in the Albanian language, but it will not undermine the significance of the Macedonian and other languages used in Macedonia, let alone the unitary character of our state,’ Xhaferi said.

Asked about his expectations from possible talks in Paris within the ‘ Jean Monnet’ process, initiated by the European Parliament, Xhaferi said the meetings in France’s capital would focus on Macedonia’s Parliament Rules of Procedures and the Code of Conduct for MPs.