Macedonia Govt Talks Stuck Over Albanian Language Demands

More than two months after the December election, the issue of Albanian language demands remains the main stumbling block between the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, and the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, in their talks on forming a new government.

The SDSM on Sunday confirmed that it had replied to the DUI's proposal for a new law that would widen the official use of Albanian in the country.

While the party hinted that the main differences between it and DUI on the language issue had been overcome, it did not give any details about the exact content of the proposal.

Previously, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev said he was optimistic about an agreement with the DUI and added: "Everything that is within the framework of the constitution, which represents the real practical needs of the people... is acceptable".

But the DUI, on which SDSM depends if it is to muster a parliamentary majority, suggested that it was sticking to all or nothing regarding the extended use of the Albanian language.

Albanian is currently an official language only in those areas where Albanians make at least 20 per cent of the population. Albanians make up about a quarter of the population of Macedonia.

"There can be no talks on changes to the text [on the DUI's proposed language law]. It can be qualitatively improved but it cannot, under any circumstances, be narrowed in any form," DUI spokesperson Bujar Osmani said on Sunday.

Osmani denied reports that the DUI's proposal stretches the current frame of Macedonia's constitution but also did not disclose details about what they had proposed.

The DUI over the weekend consulted other ethnic Albanian parties on the language issue, announcing the imminent...