Thursday, 6 May 2021
Address of President Xhaferi at the continuation of the Training for Translation and Interpretation organized by the Agency for Implementation of the Language
Dear Deputy General Secretary of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Tahir Hani,
Dear Director of the Agency for Implementation of the Language, Mr. Ylber Sela,
Dear Ambassador of OSCE to the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Clemens Koja,
Dear lecturers from local universities and from the Republic of Albania and Kosovo,
Dear participants in the training,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the pleasure and honor to greet you today at the new premises of the Agency for the Implementation of the Language of the Republic of North Macedonia, and that, at the continuation of the subsequent event of this Agency, for which I can very much certainly state that from the moment when its establishment and commencement of work was formalized by law, it has justified its existence, and with a burst which is to be admired, it continues to implement the necessary activities to comply with legal provisions and constitutional rights and liabilities of all stakeholders. Allow me a moment to congratulate the director Ylber Sela and all the staff of the Agency for the 
commitment and professionalism with which they have approached the work and the respective duties. I did this last time as well, on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day, when the Agency had organized an International Scientific Conference and this is just another proof that the activities and dynamics have continued even in these unfortunately unenviable health conditions, but of course, by using the available methods, because the responsibility and trust are the same, while the demands and expectations now are much more serious and reasonable after the period of establishment, settlement and placement in the premises which provide all the necessary conditions for the unhindered development of the work process in an institution.
I would also like to greet Ambassador Koja, who with devotion and cordiality supports the steps of the Agency and also all other institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Distinguished,
I believe that the past period was sufficient for the Agency to gather the necessary information on how well the local institutions are prepared for the implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages and the exercise in practice of the right to full functioning in the mother tongue. Regarding the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, I believe that you are aware that it is the first institution in which began the translation of the materials that were submitted to the institution, that were compiled in the Assembly and that were distributed to the MPs and the staff in two languages. The Assembly was also the first institution where the consecutive and simultaneous interpretation of speakers in the meetings of the working bodies took place. Although the beginning was very difficult, because the extremely small number of translators without prior preparation in the field they had to cover, the modest equipment with dictionaries and the lack of trainings in the field of translation and interpretation were not in their favor, still, I can say that over time and with the acquisition of experience and the enrichment of translation software, they were profiled as translators who successfully responded to the daily challenges in the Assembly. Of course, in the past years the number of implementers increased, with the help of the supporters of the democratization of the Assembly they were provided with dictionaries and software of the latest technological development, and today, thanks to the commitment of the Agency for the Implementation of the Language the training continues, and I must say that it would have been very much welcomed at the beginning when they were employed in the Assembly. But, this training, as far as I understood, in addition to being for translators and the challenges they face in their daily work and ways of overcoming them, also on overcoming and solving in a unified way, with unified administrative terminology, it will also be intended for a more advances category, respectively, for lecturers, and this makes me very happy. This is because, in addition to the right to use the language, also account must be taken of what it means to preserve, promote and develop the standard, pure and correct language, which will be an example and guide for all those who in one way or another reach the wider audience, have an impact on the growth and development of new generations and, most importantly, to facilitate the work of the institutions, translators in institutions and on the increase of the value of the language. Language is a living matter, it is constantly under the influence of various trends, influences, therefore it must be adapted, modernized, but not exaggerated, because nothing can be compared and sound more beautiful than the pure, standard language, but still, authentic language.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Now over a long period of time, the whole world is in an extraordinary situation of health risk, where the health, economic systems and certainly, the most affected, the citizens, are facing more than economic and health challenges. In fact, it affects the whole lifestyle and functioning of a society. Online learning, online lecturing, online concerts, online theatrical performances. All of this further increases the need to take account of the way of communication, public appearance and presentation because the language should always be used beautifully and accurately, and the corona virus does not minimize its value at all. Rather, the more responsibly we take care of it, the more value we will gain in the eyes of our fellow citizens, in the eyes of the younger generations. This will be in favor of eliminating prejudices, and in the context of the advantages offered by a multiethnic and multilingual society. Let’s learn to listen to each other, let’s learn to have respect for each other and for all that makes a person special, his ethnicity, the language he speaks, the religion he belongs to, the social stratum he comes from, economic status, gender, occupation and a number of other features. This is the best way to build developed and advanced societies, contemporary and European societies with internationally accepted values and standards which respect the fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Dear lecturers,
Participants in the Training,
I wish You good and fruitful work, and I suggest not to stop here, but to permanently improve and distribute new knowledge at work and in private life, because language is something that identifies us and we always carry with ourselves.
Thank you for the attention!