ZAGREB, July 2 (Hina) - Addressing a conference on minority integration in Zagreb on Wednesday, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic advocated the principle of positive discrimination of minorities in Croatia, which already enjoy the same
rights as the majority people.
ZAGREB, July 2 (Hina) - Addressing a conference on minority
integration in Zagreb on Wednesday, Croatian President Stjepan
Mesic advocated the principle of positive discrimination of
minorities in Croatia, which already enjoy the same rights as the
majority people. #L#
"Members of minorities enjoy absolutely the same rights as the
majority people, in line with the law that we adopted recently. I
would make a step further and apply the principle of positive
discrimination, however, by all indications, conditions for that
have not been created yet," Mesic said at the International
Conference on Minority Integration in South-East Europe and the
Baltic.
The conference, which is held at Zagreb's "Opera" hotel, was
organised by the OSCE Mission to Croatia and the Zagreb-based
Institute for International Relations, with the support of the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation from Germany and the Swedish Embassy.
In attendance are also Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, a former
Swedish premier and High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Carl Bildt, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of
Croatian parties and numerous NGOs.
Croatia's position with regard to minority protection is clear, but
there are occasional departures, Mesic said.
"If you ask me if sometimes and somewhere departures do occur, I
would have to say yes. However, those are really isolated
incidents, the remnants of a policy 'which does not live here any
more'," Mesic said.
The president said Croatia expected its neighbours to behave
towards minorities in the same way.
"As we develop more and more intensive regional cooperation and
accelerate the return of refugees and displaced people, thus trying
to remove the consequences of the war and so-called ethnic
cleansing, which accompanied the war and was often its purpose, we
rightfully expect the same conduct towards minorities from our
neighbours," Mesic said.
Minorities are valuable elements "reinforcing the European house
we are all building and want to live in", the president said.
Majority peoples in the region often manipulated minorities in the
past, which resulted in a tendency to eliminate or assimilate
minorities, Mesic said.
Minister Picula said that legislation regulating minority
protection in Croatia was satisfactory and called for its
consistent implementation.
(hina) rml