“There is no need to convince you to return to Croatia, but Croatia is always open to you. It is up to you to decide whether you will be in Croatia or stay here because, in the end, it is everyone’s personal decision,” he said at the meeting in São Paulo on Wednesday evening.
Milanović recalled his meetings with Croatian expatriates in other parts of the world and said those encounters were always filled with strong emotions and memories of the homeland.
“When I look at you, it's as if I am looking at the souls of ancestors, people who lived in Croatia, left Croatia, and always remained in some way connected to Croatia. The emotional bond is incredible, as if I see Croatia through you - Brač, Korčula, Zagreb, Jastrebarsko, Slavonia, Dalmatia, the whole of Croatia.”
Milanović said the meetings with descendants of Croatians around the world were the most beautiful part of politics for him and that he experienced those meetings more as personal satisfaction and happiness, much less as work.
“May God protect you, but also take care of yourselves and each other. I believe you think of Croatia from time to time and know that it thinks of you,” he said to over 100 expatriates and their descendants.
Milanović was the first Croatian president to visit the largest country in South America.
He also met with representatives of the Croatian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, which was founded last year by a group of experts, mostly of Croatian origin and with strong ties to the community, possessing diverse knowledge and experience in many areas.
At the meeting, they said they wanted to encourage the development of trade relations, investment opportunities, and cultural, academic, and technological exchanges between Croatia and Brazil.
According to official sources, around 80,000 Croatians and their descendants live in Brazil. Only a small number speak Croatian, one reason being that there have been no new immigrants to Brazil in the last 50 years.
There are not many Croatian associations in Brazil, and two of the most significant operate in São Paulo: Croatia Sacra Paulistana and Sociedade Amigos da Dalmacia.