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- Official Languages in Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian.

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The prize for best practice in implementing the Law on the Use of Languages has been awarded

14.11.2019

14 November 2019
Pristina



The Office of the Language Commissioner (OLC) in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Mission in Kosovo, has awarded the prize for “Best Practice in Implementing the Law on the Use of Languages”. 


At a ceremony attended by representatives of various institutions, the prize for the proper implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages was awarded to the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA), to the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), and to the Ministry of Regional Development (MRD).


The prize awarding, as stated at the ceremony, was made on the basis of monitoring the use of official languages on the official websites of ministries, executive bodies and agencies, including the social networks of the relevant institutions.


The Language Commissioner of Kosovo, Mr. Slavisa Mladenovic, stated that over the years it is noticed an improvement of ministries in term of the use of official languages on official websites.


“At the beginning of our work, during the monitoring we noticed that the situation in the field was not satisfactory. In many occasions, information in official languages, in news, various documents and legal acts was lacking, and many times there was no translation in official languages, especially in the Serbian language. We have been working with the Central Institutions for quite a while and the situation has been improved significantly, although there are still shortcomings in the implementation of the Law on the Use of Official Languages, but we, as the Office  of the language Commissioner, have committed ourselves to continuously work in achieving our goals”, said Commissioner Mladenovic.


Meanwhile, the OSCE Ambassador, Jan Brathu, expressed his satisfaction with the organization of the ceremony. “With these awards we aim to encourage all institutions to implement the Law on the Use of Languages, and Kosovo has an obligation to apply the legal framework regarding the use of languages. Languages are important, and languages define us who we are as individuals and also define our relationships among communities”, said Ambassador Brathu.


In the prize awarding ceremony also spoke the General Secretary of the MLGA, Ms. Rozafa Ukimeraj, the General Director of the KJC secretariat, Mr. Shkelzen Maliqi, and the General Secretary of the MRD, Mr. Fatos Qerimi. The award winners emphasized that this prize demonstrates the dedication of all staff to respect constitutional and legal obligations and that this prize will also be an impetus to work continuously towards advancing and equality in respecting language rights and freedoms in general.


Office of the Language Commissioner was established in April 2012 under auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister, pursuant to Regulation br.07/2012. The Office is mandated to oversee the implementation of the law on languages, works with institutions to improve the implementation of the law and promote and protect the right on the use of the language of all communities in Kosovo.
 

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