The Subcommittee for Europe of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee adopted a resolution on October 5, praising the people of Serbia for the conduct of democratic presidential and municipal elections and calling on President Boris Tadic to continue democratic reforms, cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal and regional cooperation.
NFCA said in a statement on Wednesday it had helped in amending the resolution to include a recommendation that the Serbian government should take additional steps to protect minority rights in the northern province of Vojvodina.
NFCA said that after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, the Croats of Vojvodina were subjected to an ethnic cleansing campaign led by Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, who is currently in the custody of the Hague tribunal, and that recent violence against the Croats and other minorities in the province was the result of growing support for the Radical Party.
During the debate on the resolution, Subcommittee Chair Jo Ann Davis said that the resolution reaffirmed the importance of respect for economic, social, cultural and religious rights in Serbia, including the rights of the Hungarians, Croats and other ethnic groups living in Vojvodina and of the Serbs living in Kosovo.
NFCA is the umbrella organisation of Croatian Americans with about 120,000 members.