ZAGREB, May 26 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament House of Representatives on Wednesday discussed the position of the Croat minority in European countries. Presenting a report, Assistant Foreign Minister Tonci Stanicic said
internationally recognised minority rights were only beginning to be or were not even recognised in the countries which made up the former Yugoslav federation. In other European countries, the Croat minority's position is generally good, but there are major differences in the degree to which those rights are protected, Stanicic said. Croats and their associations in other countries are very disunited, which has considerably affected their position and the realisation of their rights, the assistant minister said. In Romania for instance, Croats have no representative in parliament. Another problem is the financing of the associations. To the effect of improving the Cro
ZAGREB, May 26 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament House of
Representatives on Wednesday discussed the position of the Croat
minority in European countries.
Presenting a report, Assistant Foreign Minister Tonci Stanicic
said internationally recognised minority rights were only
beginning to be or were not even recognised in the countries which
made up the former Yugoslav federation.
In other European countries, the Croat minority's position is
generally good, but there are major differences in the degree to
which those rights are protected, Stanicic said.
Croats and their associations in other countries are very
disunited, which has considerably affected their position and the
realisation of their rights, the assistant minister said. In
Romania for instance, Croats have no representative in parliament.
Another problem is the financing of the associations.
To the effect of improving the Croats' position in European
countries, Croatia is trying to sign with these countries bilateral
agreements on the protection of minorities.
Such agreements have been signed with Italy and Hungary, and have
been proposed to Slovakia and Yugoslavia, which has promised it
will adopt it and accept an invitation to talks. Stanicic believes
the Kosovo crisis is the reason why the talks have still not been
held.
Istrian Democratic Assembly MP Damir Kajin initiated a very heated
discussion. He said care for the Croats' position in other
countries was understandable on condition it did not turn into
interfering with other countries' internal affairs, as is the case,
he said, with the financing of Bosnia's Croatian Defence Council.
Kajin also reminded of the protocols of Croatia's Istra County and
Italy's province Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, assessing them as
examples where one county had succeeded in what the Croatian state
had not.
The Istrian representative of the ruling Croatian Democratic
Union, Marino Golob, reacted harshly to Kajin's statements. "The
minorities in Istra County are only being used as a cover for a
systematic italianisation of the area," he asserted.
(hina) ha jn