While Europe Embraces and Nurtures Differences: Balkan Peoples Treat Their Neighbors' Languages Poorly

Europe does not allow discrimination on any grounds, including the right to language. It respects cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity. The Bosnian language has been seriously represented in numerous European studies, analyses, and policy documents for over a decade, writes the Patria News Agency.

Unfortunately, the countries of former Yugoslavia do not always treat the languages of their national minorities equally in their Constitutions. It is sometimes evident that these countries treat the collective rights of national minorities selectively and with traces of past political stereotypes.

Serbian, Croatian Languages and Rights

The Constitutions of Serbia and Croatia are almost identical in their treatment of the languages and scripts of the majority and their minority peoples.

Article 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia states: "In the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian language and Latin script are in official use."

"In certain local units, in addition to the Croatian language and Latin script, other languages and the Cyrillic or any other script may be introduced into official use under conditions prescribed by law."

What kind of respect for the law is being talked about was seen in the protests in Vukovar during the installation of bilingual signs in Cyrillic.

On the other hand, Article 10 of the Constitution states that "in the Republic of Serbia, the Serbian language and Cyrillic script are in official use. The official use of other languages and scripts is regulated by law, according to the Constitution."

"According to this law, in units of local self-government where minorities live, their language and script can be in equal official use, and this will be stated in the statute."

If one looks at the Law on the Use of the Official Language and Script in the Republic of Serbia, they will see that articles speaking of the Latin script have been magically deleted. They say they were removed from the Law after the demonstrations in Vukovar. The absurdity is complete: Croatian and Serbian policies achieve their democratic achievements by monitoring from one courtyard to another.

Bosnian Equal in Montenegro and Kosovo

In Slovenia, in Article 64 of the Constitution, language rights are given to the Hungarian and Italian minorities. Although European documents state that a significant number of Slovenian citizens speak Bosnian.

In the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, in Article 5, "the official languages are Albanian and Serbian. Turkish, Bosnian, and Romani have the status of official languages at the municipal level or will be used as official at all levels in accordance with the law."

In Montenegro, in Article 13 of the Constitution, "the official language is Montenegrin, Cyrillic and Latin scripts are equal. Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, and Croatian languages are in official use."

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Constitution prohibits any discrimination, including linguistic discrimination, and grants all human rights in accordance with European conventions. The Bosnian language is denied and discriminated against in the smaller BiH entity.

European democratic circles do not understand or accept the views on the Bosnian language coming from Republika Srpska. Europe wants to help people from different cultures understand each other in a multilingual, multicultural Europe.

Although national governments determine the legal status of languages, the European Commission maintains an open dialogue and encourages linguistic diversity to the greatest extent possible.