Declaration on the Common Language

The Declaration states that Bosniaks, Croats, Montenegrins and Serbs have a common standard language of the polycentric type.^[7][8] It refers to the fact that the four peoples communicate effectively without an interpreter due to their mutual intelligibility, which is a key notion when talking about languages.^[9][10][11] Furthermore, it points out that the current language policy of emphasizing differences has led to a number of negative phenomena,^[6][12][13] and linguistic expression is imposed as a criterion of ethnonational affiliation and a means of affirming political loyalty.^[14][15] The Declaration states that language and people do not have to coincide, and that each state or nation may independently codify its own variant of the common language, and that the four standard variants enjoy equal status.^[16][17] The Declaration calls for abolishing all forms of linguistic segregation and discrimination in educational and public institutions.^[18][19][20] It also advocates for the freedom of individual choice and respect for linguistic diversity.^[21]

The Declaration followed the international project Languages and Nationalisms^[22][23][24] (founded by two German foundations: Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst and Allianz Kulturstiftung), within which conferences were held in the four countries during 2016, thus providing an insight into the current situation and problems.^[25][26] The project was inspired by the book Language and Nationalism,^[27][28][29] and was organized by four non-governmental organizations from each of the countries included: P.E.N. Center Bosnia-Herzegovina from Sarajevo, the Association Kurs from Split, Krokodil from Belgrade and the Civic Education Center from Podgorica.^[30] An interdisciplinary series of expert conferences in Podgorica, Split, Belgrade and Sarajevo took place under participation of linguists, journalists, anthropologists and others.^[31][32] Numerous audiences were also included.^[33][34] The titles of debates on the conferences were:

The book Language and Nationalism (left) inspired the project Languages and Nationalisms (right).

More than thirty experts participated in the drafting of the Declaration, half of whom were linguists^[35] of different nationalities from the four states.^[36] The process of writing lasted for several months.^[37] The initiative emerged just after the last conference in Sarajevo, when young people from Bosnia-Herzegovina^[38][39][40] who experienced the educational segregation in the so-called "two schools under one roof"^[41] came up with the idea of composing a text that would encourage change of the language policy in all four countries.^[42] They entitled the text Declaration on the Common Language^[43] and gave it for rewriting to professional linguists,^[37] so that the Declaration was redrafted in Zagreb in the following months and can therefore be called the "Zagreb Declaration."^[44]

As a continuation of the project Languages and Nationalisms, a committee of experts of different nationalities from all four countries was formed that worked on the final version of the Declaration on 16 and 17 January 2017 in Zagreb.^[42] After the meeting, the text was sent to some twenty consultants, whose proposals are then embedded in the final form of the text.^[45]

The Declaration on the Common Language, with more than two hundred signatures of prominent intellectuals^[46][47] from Croatia,^[48] Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia was simultaneously presented to the public on 30 March 2017 in Zagreb, Podgorica, Belgrade and Sarajevo, where a press conference was held and two panel discussions with titles "What is a common language?" and "Language and the Future". Then the Declaration was opened for signing to other people.^[49] Over the next few days, more than 8,000 people signed it.^[50] Two months later, in the framework of the 10th Subversive Festival in Zagreb, a round table on the Declaration, titled "Language and Nationalism", was held.^[51][52] Then a debate^[53] "About the Declaration on the Common Language and Other Demons" was held at the Crocodile Literature Festival in Belgrade.^[54][55] After that, in Novi Sad, a panel discussion "Whose is Our Language?" at the Exit festival^[56][57][58] and a forum "What are the Achievements of the Declaration on the Common Language?" at the International literary conference, Book Talk, were organised.^[59] In Montenegro, there was a round table on the Declaration in the framework of the 7th Njegoš's Days.^[60] At the end of 2017, a discussion "What to do With the Language: Who speaks (or does not speak) the common language?" was organised at the 6th Open University in Sarajevo.^[61]

During 2018, a series of plenary lectures on the Declaration was held at conferences at the universities of various EU countries,^{[63][64][65][66]} and then at the universities in Japan.^[62][67][68] On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Declaration, two round tables were held:^[69] in Vienna "Language and Nationalisms: Do We Understand Each Other?"^[70] and in Zagreb "One Language or Several Languages: Discussion on the Declaration on the Common Language", organized by the Union of Student Associations of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb,^{[71][non-primary source needed]} which later also organized a plenary lecture on the Declaration at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.^{[72][unreliable source?]}

The British sociolinguist Peter Trudgill notes that "linguists are well represented on the list of signatories."^[2] The most famous linguist "Noam Chomsky has signed the Declaration on the common language", which has been particularly resounding.^[73] The Declaration has been signed by "over fifty other linguists, including Anders Ahlqvist, Ronelle Alexander, Nadira Aljović, Bojan Anđelković, Boban Arsenijević, John Frederick Bailyn, Josip Baotić, Ranka Bijeljac-Babić, Ranko Bugarski, Vesna Bulatović, Daniel Bunčić, Costas Canakis, Greville Corbett, Oliver Czulo, Natalia Długosz, Ljiljana Dolamic, Nicholas Evans, Rajka Glušica, Radmila Gorup, Senahid Halilović, Camiel Hamans, Mirjana Jocić, Jagoda Jurić-Kappel, Dunja Jutronić, Dejan Karavesović, Jana Kenda, Ivan Klajn, Snježana Kordić, Svetlana Kurteš, Igor Kusin, Zineta Lagumdžija, Igor Lakić, Gordana Lalić-Krstin, Mia Mader Skender, Alisa Mahmutović, Olga Mišeska Tomić, Vladimir Miličić, Spiros Moschonas, Joachim Mugdan, Zoran Nikolovski, Miloš Okuka, Tatjana Paunović, Dušan-Vladislav Pažđerski, Mira Peter, Tanja Petrović, Enisa Pliska, Milena Podolšak, Luka Raičković, Katarina Rasulić, Marija Runić, Svenka Savić, Marko Simonović, Ljiljana Subotić, Danko Šipka, Dušanka Točanac, Neda Todorović, Aleksandar Trklja, Peter Trudgill, Mladen Uhlik, Hanka Vajzović, Vera Vasić, Elvira Veselinović, Đorđe Vidanović, Ana Ždrale, Jelena Živojinović."^[74]

Signatories of the Declaration include: