Thousands of Albanian students and citizens of North Macedonia are protesting in Skopje, demanding that the bar exam be made available in Albanian.
The protest, organized by Albanian students, started near the Stone Bridge and is continuing with a march through the capital, amid cheers, red and black flags and banners with messages for the protection of the Albanian language.
“This language has martyrs behind it,” reads one of the banners being held by the protesters.
Students are demanding the implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages ??and are opposing the holding of the exam only in the Macedonian language, calling this discrimination and a violation of constitutional rights.
“What we are doing is mandatory. It’s about our future. Albanian must be spoken. This truly belongs to us,” said a Communication Sciences student during the protest.
A student of the Faculty of Law at the “Mother Teresa” University in Kumanovo stated that the protest is an independent student organization and that the actions will not stop.
“We will not give up. It is a right that belongs to us. It is a problem of institutions, but with our generation many issues will be realized that have not been realized before,” she said.
Students from Kosovo and Albania are also participating in the protest, who have traveled to Skopje to support the protest.
“Students in North Macedonia are not alone, we are here to help them,” said a student from Kosovo.
Patriotic songs were also heard during the protest, while one of the organizers declared: “Let no one think that we have forgotten, we never forget our mother Albania.”
Meanwhile, local media reported that a group of students from Albania were stopped by police at the Bllata border crossing while traveling to Skopje to join the protest. There has been no official explanation as to the reasons for the stop.
The protest was organized after the rejection of the students’ request by the current Minister of Justice, Igor Filkov, and constitutes the second protest by Albanian students this year.
Since Sunday, May 17, the protest has received support from well-known public figures, including Ramush Haradinaj, singer Shkurte Fejza, the Albanian ambassador to Skopje, as well as representatives of the PDK.
A similar protest was held on 6 April 2026 in Skopje, where thousands of Albanian students and citizens demanded respect for the right to use the Albanian language in legal proceedings. Following this protest, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski stated that the government was working on a solution and that a concrete proposal would be presented soon.
Protesters have warned of continued actions if institutions do not respond to their demands.