Serbia to 'Fight to Save' Cyrillic Alphabet

The Serbian government is planning to set up a Council for the Serbian Language and introduce fines for public institutions and companies that do not use Cyrillic, as well as tax benefits to promote wider use of the script, state-owned newspaper Vecernje Novosti reported on Monday. 

The changes are envisaged in the new strategy for the development of culture that the Serbian culture ministry is preparing, the newspaper said.

Culture minister Vladan Vukosavljevic told Vecernje Novosti that the Cyrillic alphabet is in danger because of globalisation.

"The condition is relatively worrisome primarily because of the dominant use of the Latin alphabet," warned Vukosavljevic, adding that younger people are using Latin script rather than Cyrillic because of the internet, television, brands and logos. 

"World trade, the media and especially the Internet, imposed this [Latin] alphabet as the language of universal communication," he added.

According to the Serbian constitution, adopted in 2006, Cyrillic alphabet is in official use, together with the Serbian language, which means that all communication between public institutions, but also between them and companies or citizens, should be in Cyrillic.

Vukosavljevic said that the new culture strategy and changes to the law on the official use of language and the alphabet, which the ministry will also launch, will both impose stricter rules on the use of Cyrillic, while the Council for the Serbian Language will tasked with taking care of the language policy. 

Cyrillic is defined as a "native alphabet" in the strategy, while Latin will have the status of a support script.

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