Analysis of the Website and Social Media of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Police Inspectorate of Kosovo: Systematic Violation of the Law on the Use of Languages
The continued failure to implement the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo remains a serious and longstanding issue, significantly burdening both institutions and citizens, particularly those of Serbian nationality. Despite the legal framework that guarantees the equal use of Albanian and Serbian, in practice, institutions continue to systematically neglect the right of non-majority communities to access information in their own language.
That is why NGO Aktiv and Radio Kim launched a campaign last week aimed at highlighting the shortcomings in the implementation of the law and encouraging institutions to address this problem. After analyzing the website and social media channels of the Central Election Commission (CEC) last week, this week the focus shifts to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo (MIA) and, to some extent, the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK), whose communications we will address in detail next week.
What did we discover on the MIA and PIK websites?
- Poor and Unintelligible Translation – Some pages on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo contain translations that are grammatically incorrect and almost completely incomprehensible.
- Website Discrepancy – The scope of the website (https://mpb.rks-gov.net/) is not fully identical in Serbian and Albanian. Differences in content between the Albanian and Serbian versions are clearly visible. Some pages or documents are available only in Albanian, or in Albanian and English, while the Serbian version lacks content, is incomplete, or inadequately translated. The Information Society Agency is accessible only via a Facebook page, which is mostly in Albanian and occasionally in English. The link to the Cybersecurity Agency is entirely non-functional. There are frequent inconsistencies in the naming of agencies. The page “Siguria e Aviacionit Civil” does not exist at all in Serbian.
- Improper Language Order – On the websites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK), language order is inadequate. Content is offered first in Albanian, then English, and only third in Serbian even though English is not an official language in Kosovo.
- Videos Without Translation – On the Serbian versions of the MIA and PIK websites, some video content is only in Albanian, with no subtitles or dubbing.
- • Incorrect functionalities and content in Albanian language:
- In the “News” section of the Serbian version of the MIA website, diacritical marks typical of the Albanian language appear, indicating technical and other errors in publishing Serbian content.
- In the section titled “Latest News” on the PIK website’s Serbian version, no posts are actually available in Serbian.
- The organizational chart (organogram) on the Serbian version of the PIK website is displayed only in Albanian. Same applies to the MIA website.
- The online application for obtaining a driver’s license in Serbian is not functional.
- Categories such as “Civil Aviation Safety”, “Road and Environmental Vehicle Tax Law”, and “Criteria for Obtaining a Residence Permit” are exclusively in Albanian.
- In the “Minister’s Decisions” section, documents are available only in Albanian. Strategic documents, National Plan, Reactions and Archive of public calls are with only two exceptions, also exclusively in Albanian. Even when content is translated into Serbian (unlike the titles), it often contains incomprehensible errors—such as “According to Law No. 08 / L – 197 for publishing officers.”
ID Card Issue – A significant concern is the ID card form issued by the MIA, which lists “KOSOVAR” under Nationality (Shtetësia/Državljanstvo/Nationality), following Albanian linguistic norms. The only correct Serbian term would be “KOSOVAC.” The use of “KOSOVAR,” besides being linguistically incorrect, is considered offensive in Serbian.
Social Media – Dominance of Albanian and English
- Facebook – Almost all posts by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo on Facebook are exclusively in Albanian, including video content, which lacks subtitles or dubbing in Serbian. The ministry’s name is also listed only in Albanian.
- X (formerly Twitter) – The official name of the ministry appears only in English, with little to no Serbian content. Posts are predominantly in English and Albanian, while video material is exclusively in Albanian.
Why Is This Important?
This follow-up in our campaign focusing on the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK) confirms that the systemic neglect of the Serbian language in Kosovo’s institutions is a serious problem. Such practices prevent equal access to public information for non-majority communities and represent a direct violation of the Law on the Use of Languages.
The Law clearly stipulates that Albanian and Serbian are equal official languages in Kosovo. The long-standing practice of ignoring this issue, alongside silence in the face of continued violations of linguistic rights, effectively denies Serbian citizens and other non-majority communities who rely on Serbian-language information their constitutional and legally guaranteed right to access public information.
It is therefore essential to replace the use of unqualified translators or automated tools like Google Translate with qualified professionals who can ensure accurate and clear translations into Serbian. By establishing a functional translation system, institutions will ensure unimpeded access to public information and, more importantly, demonstrate in practice their commitment to upholding not only linguistic but fundamental human rights—rights guaranteed to non-majority communities by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We call on the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo to immediately begin aligning the language versions of information published on its website and social media and to ensure equal access to content in both official languages.
