ZAGREB, April 5 (Hina) - The Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Croatia, Hasan Muratovic, sent a note to the Croatian Foreign Ministry to warn about complaints by certain citizens in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County that they are not
allowed to state their nationality as Bosniaks when completing the national census form. They said they were told to state they were Moslems, with their mother tongue being Croatian, not Bosnian, the Foreign Ministry reported Thursday. Along with the note, Muratovic also sent letters by six families from Rijeka who complained about the census registrars, whose conduct Muratovic described as discriminatory. The Ministry received from the National Bureau of Statistics information that those carrying out the census have to right to suggest to citizens what to state as their nationality or religion, adding that all those who feel Bosniak may state so, and list their mother tongue as Bosnian, if
ZAGREB, April 5 (Hina) - The Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina to
Croatia, Hasan Muratovic, sent a note to the Croatian Foreign
Ministry to warn about complaints by certain citizens in Primorje-
Gorski Kotar County that they are not allowed to state their
nationality as Bosniaks when completing the national census form.
They said they were told to state they were Moslems, with their
mother tongue being Croatian, not Bosnian, the Foreign Ministry
reported Thursday.
Along with the note, Muratovic also sent letters by six families
from Rijeka who complained about the census registrars, whose
conduct Muratovic described as discriminatory.
The Ministry received from the National Bureau of Statistics
information that those carrying out the census have to right to
suggest to citizens what to state as their nationality or religion,
adding that all those who feel Bosniak may state so, and list their
mother tongue as Bosnian, if they wish to do so, Ministry spokesman
Goran Rotim said.
Rotim said it was peculiar that Muratovic's note was sent ahead of
tomorrow's visit of Bosnia-Herzegovina Foreign Minister Zlatko
Lagumdzija to Zagreb.
"The Foreign Ministry and the Croatian government are constantly
working on the development of good neighbourly relations with
Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the stabilisation of the political
situation in the country and the wider region.
Croatia supports Bosnia-Herzegovina in its efforts to draw closer
to European associations, which will be one of the subjects of talks
between Minister Lagumdzija and Tonino Picula (Croatian Foreign
Minister), along with a number of agreement relations, customs
issues and mutual efforts on the return of refugees to their homes,"
Rotim said.
(hina) lml sb