Serbian government says it wants to improve the status of Serbs in Croatia.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić said on Friday that “he has nothing against” the idea that Serbs in Croatia should receive the same rights as those accorded to Croats living in Serbia. He promised help of the Serbian government to Croatian Serbs in order to improve their position and develop their institutions in Croatia, reports RTL on December 24, 2016.
“We would have nothing against the idea that Serbs in Croatia should have the same rights in Croatia as the rights of Croats living in Serbia, whose number is four or maybe eight times smaller than the number of Serbs living in Croatia”, said Vučić to reporters commenting on the topics of his meeting with president of the Serbian National Council in Croatia and one of Serb representatives in Croatian Parliament Milorad Pupovac.
The topics of their conversation were relations between Croatia and Serbia, the status of Serbs in Croatia, and the opportunities and ways in which Serbia can help them.
Vučić said that Serbia was trying “at all costs” to send good messages and not respond to provocations, but was also worried about the way Croatian authorities were behaving towards the Serbs.
After the meeting with Pupovac, Serbian government emphasized in a statement the commitment of Belgrade to good-neighbourly relations with Zagreb, and Pupovac and Vučić exchanged views on how the Serbian government “can contribute to resolving the difficulties which are faced by Serbs in Croatia, as well as how to improve their position”, said the government in a statement after the meeting.
It was announced that the Serbian government was willing to help the institutions of the Serbian community in Croatia “in strengthening of their programming capacity, particularly in the fields of education and culture”, with the expectation that “the improvement of the status of Serbs in Croatia and resolving the objective difficulties would be addressed in their dialogue with the government of Croatia”.
“Prime Minister Vučić reiterated once again Serbia’s commitment to good-neighbourly relations with Croatia, readiness to resolve outstanding issues, as well as the importance of regional cooperation and joint efforts in the framework of European integration, with the aim of restoring confidence and preserving stability”, said the Serbian government in a statement after the meeting between Vučić and Pupovac in Belgrade.
