1 Introduction

North Macedonia and Albania signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen language cooperation; The Language Use Law has elevated Albanian to the official language of the country, sparking controversy; After the bill was passed, North Macedonia established a bilingual system at the national level, which had an impact on the political landscape, ethnic relations, and identity recognition; The following text will analyze the historical evolution of language policy in North Macedonia and the legal regulation and impact of the Language Use Law.

2 Historical context: The conflict between monolingual consciousness and binary ethnicity in reality

After World War I, the Macedonian region was incorporated into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the ethnic identity and language of the Macedonian and Albanian peoples were not recognized. The use of Albanian language was prohibited. In the 1920s, Albanian guerrilla forces operated in western Macedonia, promoting the awakening of Albanian consciousness. During World War II, Italy occupied western Macedonia and allowed the use of Albanian language, promoting the formation of ethnic and linguistic consciousness among the Albanian people.

3 Legal Confirmation: Legal Regulation of the Language Use Law and the National Bilingual System

Elaborated in detail the legal regulatory process of the bilingual system in North Macedonia. In 2008, North Macedonia passed a constitutional amendment that designated the official language as Macedonian and the ethnic language of over 20% of the population, making Albanian the official language. In 2010, the Ministry of Education adjusted the requirements for Albanian students to learn Macedonian, granting equal status to both languages in the field of education. In 2011, the use of ethnic languages was extended to all parliamentary officials. In 2018, a bill was proposed to expand the use of Albanian language, but it was vetoed by the president. In 2019, the Language Use Law was officially signed and published, clarifying the scope of use of official languages and the guarantee institutions. This bill stipulates the use of Macedonian and Albanian languages in national administrative agencies, public enterprises, local governments, and other institutions, as well as the right of citizens to use official languages. At the same time, a specialized agency has been established to promote and protect the Albanian language. The language policy of North Macedonia has gone from ambiguity to clarity, from "fact" to "law", reflecting the legal recognition of the country's bilingual system, which has had a significant impact on the national language landscape and governance.

4 Policy Reflections: De subjectification and the Language Governance Path of Ethnic States

The Language Use Law has sparked controversy in North Macedonia, requiring public institutions to use Albanian, but has been criticized by the National Unity Party as a criminal act for issuing laws without the President's signature. This law is seen as an important step in North Macedonia's accession to Europe process, and the Venice Commission assessed that it basically meets European standards, but also pointed out issues such as unclear legal texts and lack of precise data. The language policy reform in North Macedonia reflects the core demands of ethnic conflicts and language rights. The government has opened up policy space for improving the status of minority languages, and the process of improving the status of Albanian language has stages, continuity, and complexity. Language rights play an important role in the formation of the bilingual system in North Macedonia, gradually advancing from local to central, and from basic education to higher education. Language, as an important tool for national governance and international relations, has become a major trend in the formation of North Macedonia's bilingual system, with "de subjectification" becoming the main trend, shifting from a "subject binary" to an "unbalanced binary" framework to adapt to geopolitical demands and complex language situations.