Thousands of Albanian students from three different universities held a massive protest march in Skopje, calling on the Ministry of Justice to allow the conduct of the bar exam in the Albanian language. Under the cries of “Justice, equality, there is no state without youth!”, the young people left the Constitutional Court to finish their march in front of the Ministry of Justice building.
Demand for law enforcement and calls for resignation
The axis of this protest is the implementation of the Constitution and the Law on the use of languages. Student representatives demanded an urgent legal solution and made a direct appeal to the Minister of Justice, Igor Fillkov, to reflect. After the minister’s previous statements that he would not allow the exam to be held in Albanian, the protesters escalated their reaction by demanding his immediate resignation.
They warned that they will not withdraw from the path of protests until their demands are implemented.
Voice of the students: “The Albanian language is not negotiable”
During the march, representatives of the student parliaments emphasized that any institutional delay is seen as an attempt to deny an essential right.
Besar Sejdiu (President of the Student Parliament, “Mother Teresa”): “Our colleagues have the right to give the jurisprudence exam in the Albanian language, period! Every delay is an attempt to deny us a right that has been denied to us for many years. The Albanian language is official, not negotiable! Our request is simple: respect the Constitution and the law, no more and no less.”
Besjan Rexhepi (Student Parliament, UEJL): “This is a direct message to the Minister of Justice, Mr. Fillkov, to take this issue seriously and reflect with concrete legal solutions, not with institutional delays or silence, even ignoring our requests.”
Mevlan Ademi (Law student): “It should not have been thought that in 2026 students would go out on the streets for their language. Before we are students and professionals, we are Albanians. We are the ones who will defend the law tomorrow, but today we demand our right to our mother tongue. A state that does not enforce its own rights cannot exist.”
