During her stay in the Republic of Poland, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova visited one of the oldest higher education institutions – the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, as well as the Macedonian Language Department at this University, where she met with Polish students learning Macedonian Language and Macedonian scholars.
In the talks, the President was introduced to the history of the University and the Macedonian Language Department, the work and scientific achievements of the Polish students learning Macedonian Language and the Macedonian scholars, the interest of the Polish students in studying the Macedonian language, as well as their activities, projects and efforts to promote the Macedonian language in Poland.
The Macedonian scholars involved in the International Seminar on Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture at UKIM spoke about the cultural and educational exchange between the two countries, as well as about the Macedonian-Polish friendship. At the same time, they pointed out the need for greater state support in financing translations and scientific papers from Macedonian into Polish and vice versa.
President Siljanovska-Davkova praised their long-standing educational engagement in nurturing and promoting the Macedonian language, literature and culture and expressed gratitude for the dedication of the Polish students learning Macedonian Language in affirming the Macedonian language in the international academic environment. She promised to work to intensify scientific cooperation, thereby relativizing the distance between the two countries.
The interlocutors expressed particular satisfaction that, in addition to the Jagiellonian University, where the Macedonian Language Department was opened in the academic 1974/75, the Macedonian language is also studied in other educational institutions in Poland. Namely, the Macedonian Language Department is also actively functioning at the Faculty of Humanities in Sosnowiec at the University of Silesia in Katowice, a center where Macedonian studies are taught at all study cycles – from undergraduate to doctoral. The Macedonian language is also taught as a major at the Department of Slavic Philology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and as a second subject it has been introduced at the University of Opole.
The President also visited the museum of the Jagiellonian University, the Collegium Maius – the oldest building at the University, which dates back to the 14th century and has been in continuous use for more than 600 years.
