The HNV on Friday marked the day of the establishment of the first HNV, a holiday of the Croat minority in Serbia.
“The house where Count (Josip) Jelačić was born has been bought and is being renovated, offices have been secured to house the association of Croats in Belgrade, construction work on Croatian House has begun, the first crèche has been opened…” Vojnić said, speaking of the results of the current HNV.
Another, invisible achievement is the preserved unity among Croats in Serbia and their representatives becoming credible partners to the state institutions in Croatia, she added.
The event in Subotica was also attended by the deputy head of the Serb National Council (SNV), Croatian member of parliament Dragana Jeckov, who said that the Croat and Serb minorities shared many problems.
“When Croats in Serbia are attacked, Serbs in Croatia feel it very much and, I am sure, vice versa,” she said.
“To all those who are not willing to give a helping hand to promote relations – stop and let us minorities live normally,” she said.
The envoy of the Croatian prime minister, Milan Bošnjak, commended the ethnic Croat community’s achievements and positive steps made by the Serbian authorities, but also warned of situations that make life for the Croat minority more difficult and harm bilateral relations.
In that context he mentioned the decision by the Subotica town government to declare the Bunjevci Ikavian dialect “an official non-Croatian language” and the fact that the issue of representation of Croats in the Serbian parliament had not been resolved yet.
“We look forward to the moment when a Croat will be elected to the Serbian parliament in a separate constituency,” Bošnjak said.
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