Language policy

Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Hungary have urged Ukraine not to introduce the restrictions on mother-tongue education envisaged in the Education Act approved at second reading by the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said.

The Council of Europe (CoE) has expressed regret over the decision by Vukovar City Council to change the city's statute and ban the use of bilingual signs.

These signs are written in both Croatian Latin and Serbian Cyrillic scripts and placed on public institutions, squares and streets.

Bilingual signs and minority languages are in the jurisdiction of European Union member states, a European Commission statement said on Thursday.

It added that the EC is confident that Croatia will honor national and international commitments on the protection of national minorities.

VUKOVAR - Another bilingual sign, containing Croatian and Serbian text, placed on the building of the Croatian Employment Service in Vukovar has been smashed, and the police are searching for the culprits.

Experts don't expect "monolingual civilization"

BELGRADE -- Domestic linguists warned on International Mother Language Day that the Serbian language was "under the growing influence of English."

However, they also said Serbian was "endangered to the same extent as other languages with great traditions."

BELGRADE - Domestic linguists warned on Friday, on the International Mother Language Day, that the Serbian language is under the growing influence of English, but that it is jeopardized to the same extent as other languages with great traditions.