Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s government submitted the long-announced final version of the Law on the Croatian Language – in which the government is given the authority to protect and ensure the use of Croatian and promote the learning of the Croatian language abroad – to the parliamentary procedure.
According to the Government’s expectations, the Parliament should adopt the Croatian Language Act by March.
The final proposal highlighted that the Croatian language is the official language in Croatia and one of the official languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU.
It should also be noted that the Croatian language includes the Croatian standard language and three equal dialects – Chakavian, Kajkavian, and Štokavian. Štokavian was finally chosen as the basis of standard Croatian standard language in the middle of the 19th century.
By the legislative proposal, the government is given the authority to protect and ensure the use of the Croatian language and to promote the learning of the Croatian language abroad, especially among members of Croatian minorities outside Croatia.
The government must also adopt the National Plan of Croatian Language Policy and establish the Council for the Croatian Language.
“This is the first time in history that we are regulating the issue of official and public use of the Croatian language, considering that the national language is an intangible cultural asset and a sign of identity and national belonging. The language needs to be taken care of in an appropriate, systematic, and professional manner,” said Plenković at the government session on Thursday.
In addition to Croats and other citizens in Croatia, the Croatian language is also used by Croats in Bosnia, as well as Croatian minorities in Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Italy and other countries.
“Every nation and state has the right to call their language what they want. That is why adopting the Law on the Croatian Language itself should not be disputed. However, what is prescribed in it is more or less already settled by the Croatian Constitution, which defines the Croatian language as the official language in Croatia”, political analyst and former diplomat Božo Kovačević told Euractiv.
He warned, however, that the legal proposal lacks the issue of defining spelling the most.
Spelling, along with grammar and vocabulary, is the key to defining any language, said Kovačević.
He also reiterated that many countries in the world do not have their own language but use a “foreign” one, such as English, French, German, Spanish, or Portuguese.
“States can be exclusive or inclusive in their language policy. I sincerely hope the government will be inclusive in its language policy”, concluded Kovačević.
(Adriano Milovan | Euractiv.com)
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Source: euractiv.com
