VLEN: After 35 years, the bar exam will also be available in Albanian

VLEN’s Afan Elezi announced at a press conference today that Albanian students will also be able to take the bar exam in Albanian. According to Elezi, this opportunity comes 35 years after the country gained independence and 58 years after the first law on the exam was adopted.

Elezi described the decision as important for generations of Albanian legal professionals and said that issues left unresolved for decades can be addressed when there is political will and responsibility.

He recalled that Albanian students have pursued their studies in Albanian but have had to use Macedonian for the bar exam. According to Elezi, this obstacle persisted for generations, while previous governments failed to resolve it.

Elezi also addressed Arbër Ademi, whom he called the opposition’s leading figure, asking what language he had taken the bar exam in in 2016. He asked whether Ademi, as an Albanian legal professional, had been forced to take the exam in Macedonian and, if so, on what grounds he now spoke about patriotism and lectured others on the Albanian language, even though he had headed the Ministry of Justice eight times while in power.

According to Elezi, people cannot ask Albanians for their trust by presenting themselves as defenders of their rights after having had the opportunity to advance those rights institutionally and failing to do so. He said citizens expect their rights to be implemented through concrete decisions, not just statements and speeches.

He added that they had not taken office to repeat the excuses of previous governments, but to solve the problems they had left behind.

The bar exam in Albanian is one of those issues and, according to Elezi, it will not be the last to be resolved. He congratulated Albanian students, stressing that this right belongs to them and that the process of making it a reality is now underway.