US Slavist Victor Friedman, who was presented on Wednesday in Ohrid with the World Humanism Award, said current problems would be somehow resolved, adding that it was important that Macedonian language existed and would continue to exist.
Friedman, who has studied, researched, and spoken Macedonian for over 50 years, stated that he hadn’t had any idea at all that the language would cause problems like the ones arising from neighbouring countries. On one occasion, he described the current Bulgarian policy as fascist. “Yes, because during the era of fascism, when Bulgarians occupied Macedonia, they would beat children that talked in Macedonian. That is fascism.
During the era of fascism, Macedonian was a Bulgarian dialect. Now, what the Bulgarians are saying about Macedonian being a Bulgarian dialect is the same as in the era of fascism,” he notes.
When it comes to Ohrid, his stand is that it was, is, and will remain a seat of multilingualism, which just goes to confirm its title as a centre of world humanism.