ZAGREB, June 28 (Hina) - Drago Majic was elected new president of the Alliance of Associations of Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Alliance decided at an assembly held in Zagreb on Saturday.
ZAGREB, June 28 (Hina) - Drago Majic was elected new president of
the Alliance of Associations of Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina,
the Alliance decided at an assembly held in Zagreb on Saturday. #L#
"The position of Croats in BH is extremely difficult and their
survival there is questionable," Majic said, calling on all to help
Croats exercise the rights they are entitled to as one of Bosnia's
three constituent peoples.
Majic recalled about 180,000 Bosnian Croats fled Bosnia and found
refuge in Croatia during the 1990s war, and that 100,000 of them
enjoyed refugee status.
"Most Bosnian Croat refugees wish to return but neither Republic of
Srpska nor BH authorities are creating conditions for the return,"
Majic said.
He warned that Bosnian Croat refugees in Croatia were left to fend
for themselves, with help being non-existent at virtually every
level.
The Alliance invited all Croatian parliamentary parties to today's
assembly but only representatives of the Social Liberals (HSLS),
the Croatian Party of Rights, and the Croatian Bloc (HB) showed up.
Representatives of the Croatian True Revival (HIP), the chairman of
the parliamentary emigration committee, Milan Kovac, and
representatives of Bosnian Croat authorities also attended.
Zelimir Janjic of the HSLS said the Croatian government's official
attitude towards Bosnian Croats had deteriorated since the
incumbent coalition had come into power in 2000 and should be
improved after the next parliamentary vote.
"Croats have become a minority in their state (BH), and in Croatia
they have lost the rights to health care, a flat, and a job, while at
the same time the Croatian government is calling on Serbs who
voluntarily left the state to return and is providing them with
flats," said HIP's Mate Ljubicic.
Benjamin Tolic of the HB recalled it was every Croatian
government's constitutional duty to care for Bosnian Croats. All
Bosnian Croats' warnings about their difficult position are futile
as long as the incumbent authorities in Croatia do not change, he
said.
Tolic said "this government, for the mercy of international
circles, has consented to the mass return of all Serbs, giving up
Croats in BH, the extradition of all wanted by the tribunal in The
Hague, and the sale and privatisation of monopoly-holding large
systems".
The Alliance of Associations of Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina
comprises more than 40 associations and clubs.
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