Agency of Language Implementation – Its Activities 2019 – 2023

Abstract

In the Republic of North Macedonia, as a multi-ethnic country with numerous spoken languages and in light of the Ohrid Agreement of August 2001, some constitutional changes and new regulations on the status of languages have been achieved so far. Following the approval of the Law on The Use of Languages in the Republic of North Macedonia from January 2019 and since the foundation of  the Language Implementation Agency in March 2019, improvements on the status of the Albanian language have been made, but difficulties in implementing the law have occurred and the use of Albanian as an official language is still disrupted by many challenges. This paper will focus on giving an introduction of the Language Implementation Agency, starting off from its founding in 2019. We intent to offer a reflection on its history and give insight into its mission in the process of implementing Albanian as the second official language in the Republic of North Macedonia. Some of the main challenges that the implementation of the law has brought to light will be mentioned and obstacles that the use of Albanian as an official language faces will be further examined, in particular compared to the Macedonian language. This paper intent on giving a summarized overview on the achievements of the Language Implementation Agency starting from its foundation and on shining through the process of the implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages.