Croatian MP raises alarm on Croat rights in Serbia
HDZ MP Jasna Vojnić, representative of the Croatian community in Serbia and member of the Croatian Parliament, warned that the situation of Croats in Serbia is currently below international standards and continues to deteriorate.
"None of the issues I raised over the past year have been resolved; on the contrary, the situation has worsened," Vojnić said in her parliamentary speech during an open-topic session, citing the case of the kindergarten in (the Vojvodina Croat-majority community of) Tavankut, "accusations against Croatia, and the branding of hate".
She noted that the Tavankut kindergarten, built by the Croatian government, remains unresolved, and that Serbian institutions have remained unresponsive, CE Report quotes HINA.
"Instead of resolving the problem, our educators continue to receive contract terminations, and parents who applied for enrolment in the Croatian-language program receive written replies stating that their application was approved -- but their children were admitted into programs in Serbian and Bunjevci languages," Vojnić said.
She emphasised that this is not a single local issue, but a matter of minority rights and Serbia's credibility in meeting its international obligations.
Vojnić urged that the Tavankut case not be treated as a local incident but as a serious signal.
"If the problem in Tavankut is not resolved, it sends the message that Croatian children are second-class citizens," she warned, stressing that the issue must be addressed at a higher political level.
The MP also asserted that the president of Serbia has for months made serious and unfounded accusations against Croatia, including regarding Croatian energy infrastructure.
"He accuses JANAF, the Croatian state and Croatian policies without a single piece of evidence, while such accusations are never made against Russia," said Vojnić.
"If there is a problem, let Serbia raise it through its institutions, but stop using Croatia as a daily political target," she said.
Regarding the "branding of hate", Vojnić argued that in Serbia, the words "Croatia" and "Croat" have been increasingly associated with the term "Ustasha" in recent years.
"Yesterday, pro-government protesters in front of the National Assembly chanted at opposition MPs, calling them Ustashas and trying to physically prevent them from entering parliament. They are not Croats, yet the term 'Ustasha' is being used as a weapon for attack, humiliation and dehumanisation," the MP said, adding that this is possible only because hate speech against Croats in Serbia has been normalised.
foto Velimir Ilić
