LOWER HOUSE DISCUSSES USE OF MINORITY LANGUAGES

( Editorial: --> 2757 ) ZAGREB, Sept 24 (Hina) - The Croatian National Parliament's House of Representatives continued its session on Thursday with a debate on the final bill on the Law on the Official Use of Languages and Scripts Used by National Minorities in Croatia. The bill does not change nor do away with any of the acquired minority rights as pertaining to the Croatian Constitution, the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Minorities and international agreements which Croatia signed or succeeded from the former state, said Administration Minister Marjan Ramuscak. The bill has been concorded to the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages, which Croatia was the fifth European country to sign and which then meant that the Charter could take effect. Highlighting the differences between the second and third reading of the bill, Ramuscak said that a proposal that the official use of minority languages or scripts should be tied to particular regions was not adopted. This is the right of an individual, member of a national minority, which is exercised at the local self-government level. The so-called territorial right, which would mean the application of a minority language for all citizens in a particular region, is in opposition to the Constitution and the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and the Rights of Minorities, said Minister Ramuscak. He reminded that in the former state the use of minority languages existed only on a municipal level and that not one international agreement prescribes the official use of minority languages at the county level. Speaking on behalf of the parliament's Legislative Committee, MP Vice Vukojevic supported the bill and recommended its adoption. Miroslav Kis, who represents the Committee for Human Rights and the Rights of National Minorities, reported that his committee did not have a quorum and could not give its decision on the bill. He added though that the bill was an improvement to the status of minorities. Speaking on behalf of the Istrian Democratic Assembly's (IDS) parliamentary bench, Damir Kajin and Italian minority MP Furio Radin, considered that the bill is even more restrictive than it was in its second reading. The two MPs supported the introduction of bilinguilism in the entire region of the Istria County. Radin stated that until 1993, 96 per cent of the population in the region lived in centres which enjoyed bilinguilism. This statement was refuted by Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) representative Marino Golob. Radin added though, that politicising the issue of the use of the Italian language in Istria was not to the benefit of minority groups. The proposed bill was "an apologia for centralised political power", he concluded. The debate was heightened by the Declaration of the County of Istria on the Multi-ethnic and Multi-lingual County of Istria and particularly article 6 of the declaration, on which most MP's commented. The article notes that "bodies within the County of Istria will maintain their current method of the use of the Croatian and Italian languages as an expression of co-existence of the autochthonous national communities". Drazen Budisa of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) said that as a Croat he had not "experienced a greater insult (than the declaration) in the last number of years" for the declaration reduced his status (as a Croat) "to the level of an authocthonous community in the Croatian state". Members of the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS), Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) all agreed that the bill was good and that it protected the rights of national minorities and offered them the opportunity to expand. Vladimir Seks of HDZ's bench stated that IDS members had utilised certain solutions noted in the bill for their own provocative objectives. Their intention was to instrumentalize the Italian minority in Croatia and threaten relations between the Italians and Croats in Istria and even more between Croatia and Italy, said Seks. "The law can pride Croatia with regard to the protection of national minorities", he concluded. (Hina) jn sp/rml 241656 MET sep 98