On the occasion of 21 February, the International Mother Language Day, promoted within the United Nations as the day of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today visited the Faculty of philology “Blaze Koneski” in Skopje where he met with the dean, the vice deans and the heads of departments, but also he had the opportunity to meet with students.

As the President stressed, a language is a communication code we use to communicate and get to know each other and express our uniqueness. Everyone should have the right to learn and nurture the mother tongue, adding that the Faculty of philology nurtures this practice, and besides the Macedonian, in this educational institution the languages of the other ethnic communities are learned, as well as part of the world languages.

Macedonia is a positive example of learning the languages of the communities, but, unfortunately, in the neighboring countries this is not the case. Therefore, today's International Mother Language Day may be the call and motive every one of us to foster the mother language, and not to be hindered in this”, President Ivanov said, emphasizing that the greatest enemy of the mother tongue is the one that disrespects it.

At the meeting with the students at the Faculty, and later in a press statement, the Head of State, quoting Koneski, noted that the language is a spiritual homeland, and that by respecting the language we respect the tradition and the ancestors who preserved and modernized the language.

“The language contains the uniqueness of every community and enables us to be people. If there is no language there will be no poetry, literature and the entire heritage of the ancestors”, the President said, urging the students to take care for the purity of the language.

Regarding the recent reactions to the idea to terminate or reduce the quotas for enrollment of students at the Macedonian language and literature departments, the Head of State stressed that the problem is economic and not political. He announced that, together with the Minister of Education and Science, they will seriously approach the issue of Macedonian language study groups in the world, being directly informed that they are facing financial problems.

"As the economic situation improves, there will be more funds for these departments. We hope this problem will be overcome and more departments will be opened", President Ivanov said.

Being asked by a journalist about his impression following the meeting with the UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz, the President stressed that Macedonia has always been constructive and contributed to finding a mutually acceptable solution. Ambassador Nimetz' statement indicates that we as a country are committed to resolving the issue pending for one and half decade.

"We expect the same dedication and constructive approach from the other side. However, unfortunately, there are no positive moves lately", the Head of State said after visiting the Faculty of Philology at the Skopje University.

President Ivanov does not consider that Macedonia and Greece are now in disunity concerning the name dispute and that, according to him, is confirmed by the relationship between the ordinary citizens of both countries.

"If you perceive the situation among ordinary citizens of Greece and Macedonia, it is quite different. The fears and prejudices of the past are fading away. Among the citizens there are no denials and disagreements. This problem has been created by the political elites, who used it for political purposes. Some Greek politicians have made political careers holding this issue open. We need to consider all its dimensions. We are the ones who are concerned and suffer because Greece has a problem with our name. We have no problem to whom to prove who we are, we know who we are and what we are", President Ivanov said.