The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) demands the immediate withdrawal of the Geography textbook for seventh grade, where the word "Metohi" is used in the section on the Republic of Kosovo.
DUI urgently demands that the book be withdrawn from use, and that the content be reviewed and corrected according to scientific standards and state policy.
The DUI emphasizes that the responsibility for this "falls directly on the governing structures, which are represented in the Ministry of Education and the Textbook Commission."
FULL REACTION:
The Democratic Union for Integration expresses deep concern about the tendentious approach and serious inaccuracies found in the Geography textbook for grade 7, published by the "Trimaks" publishing house, Skopje, and approved by the National Commission for Textbooks on August 5, 2025. This book was put into use during the 2025 school year and contains formulations that distort the historical and political reality of Kosovo.
The presentation of Kosovo as “located in the southwest of Serbia” gives Serbia the role of a reference point and bypasses the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state by North Macedonia. The use of the term “Metohi” for the Dukagjini Plain constitutes a serious identity and scientific deviation, becoming a tool of Serbian historical narratives. Likewise, the formulation “Mitrovica of Kosovo” reflects tendentious Serbian terminology such as “Kosovska Mitrovica” and cannot be part of an institutionally approved school textbook.
The Democratic Union for Integration considers that the responsibility falls directly on the governing structures, which are represented in the Ministry of Education and the Textbook Commission, because the approval of this book in 2025 shows vassalage, servility and tolerance towards historical and identity distortions, endangering the education of students and the protection of national identity.
DUI urgently demands that the book be withdrawn from use, that the content be reviewed and corrected according to scientific standards and state policy, that institutional and political responsibility for this book published in 2025 be determined, and that academic neutrality be guaranteed in all future textbooks.
The protection of historical and national identity, as well as the historical truth about Kosovo, is the duty of every government and any delay in this process is the responsibility, in this case of the government. The Democratic Union for Integration will pursue this issue until full correction and institutional clarification, so that new generations are not exposed to erroneous interpretations of the history and political reality of Kosovo.
