“Speak Macedonian” in Struga!
Express newspaper
17/02/2026 9:14
Refusal to respond in the language in which the request was submitted is not only a lack of institutional respect, but an attempt to avoid transparency. Meanwhile, transparency is not a matter of will, but a legal obligation..
By Premtime Zylali Deliaj
I have heard that after the 80s in the former Yugoslavia, when the system at that time heard a word in the Albanian language within the institutions, it immediately reacted by speaking Macedonian. And this took on even greater proportions. Albanians were told on the street, in cafes and everywhere when they heard them speaking Albanian to each other, “speak Macedonian”.
I never believed that even today, after so many sacrifices to overthrow an anti-Albanian system, right in the middle of Struga, I would experience the stories of the first people who lived through that time, in my own skin as one chosen by the people!
“Speak Macedonian” is the response of the institutions of the Municipality of Struga, you say that I addressed the Municipality of Kraljevo and not the Municipality of Struga!
As you are already informed, a few days ago, as a municipal councilor, but first and foremost as a citizen of Struga, I addressed the Public Enterprise “Water Supply and Sewerage” in Struga with some concrete questions to clarify the situation created regarding a vital problem that affects the people of Struga, the pollution of drinking water. However, in the response that this enterprise gave me, another even more scandalous problem came to light!
The company in question has implicitly refused to handle my request for access to public information, responding to me (request) only in Macedonian and demanding that my request be resubmitted in Macedonian in order to be processed!
My request was submitted in Albanian – in my native language, in the language of thousands of citizens of this municipality, in full compliance with the Law on the Use of Languages, which guarantees the official use of Albanian in the Republic of North Macedonia!
However, the company chose to respond to me only in Macedonian and ask me to translate my request, as if Albanian citizens were second-class citizens!
This is not just an administrative issue. This is a matter of dignity. This is a matter of equality.
It is unacceptable for a public institution, funded by citizens’ taxes, to impose language and administrative barriers!
Refusal to respond in the language in which the request was submitted is not only a lack of institutional respect, but an attempt to avoid transparency. Meanwhile, transparency is not a matter of will, but a legal obligation.
Public institutions are not anyone’s property, they should be at the service of citizens!
Thus, once again, I publicly request that the Law on the Use of Languages ​​be respected and that a full response be provided in Albanian to the submitted request!
On the contrary, let’s enjoy the promised “change”!
(The author is a councilor of the Municipality of Struga from the ranks of the National Alliance for Integration)