"Macedonian language center in Greece" officially registered by the judicial authorities
The "Macedonian Language Center in Greece" has announced that it has been officially registered as a non-governmental organization (NGO) by the judicial authorities in Greece.
The chronology of this historic event for the Macedonian language in Greece begins with the organization's registration request, which was approved by the court on July 28, 2022. The decision was published in the Bulletin of Judicial Decisions and Publications on November 7, 2022.
The last administrative work related to the registration was completed last week, with the court officially approving the statute of the organization. Among other things, the Center for the Macedonian Language in Greece sends public thanks to the lawyer Kiros Spondis, for the successful completion of the entire procedure regarding the registration and entry of our organization in the court register of non-governmental organizations.
In this case, we are talking about the first non-governmental organization in Greece, which will directly take care of the Macedonian language and which is legally registered by the Greek state authorities. This act represents a de facto recognition of the Macedonian speaking population in Greece.
At the same time, the fact that the court documentation officially lists the organization with its name in the Macedonian language is also significant - while also using the Macedonian Cyrillic script.
The court's decision represents the first official recognition of the Macedonian language in Greece by the state authorities after the population census in Greece conducted in 1920, when we recall that the Macedonian language was listed as a language spoken by part of the population in certain regions.
This achievement does not represent the end, but the beginning of the campaign for full recognition of the Macedonian language in Greece. Therefore, in the coming period, the Center for the Macedonian Language in Greece will focus on fulfilling its goals from the statute, which provide for the following:
- study of the Macedonian literary language by the citizens of Greece, through an internet site.
- supporting the efforts for the future introduction of the Macedonian literary language as an optional subject in public schools (primary and secondary) and universities in Greece, which are located in the regions of Western Macedonia, Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
- support of the efforts for the future formation of pedagogical schools/departments within the existing universities in Greece for the training of teachers in the Macedonian language, as well as for the development of curricula and teaching materials.
We invite all speakers of the Macedonian language and its rich dialects in Greece, as well as all democratically oriented citizens in the country, to join us in our efforts to achieve appropriate and official recognition, which we all deserve, reports the "Macedonian Center". language in Greece".