The leader of the Croat minority in Serbia, Tomislav Zigmanov, has praised Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as a reliable partner in addressing problems concerning the Croat community in the country, Croatian-language media in the northern province of Vojvodina said on Saturday.

The community centre and a bridge in the Croat-majority village of Monostor are being reconstructed, a Croatian language instruction office has been opened at the University of Novi Sad, the network of Croatian-language schools has been expanded, and the process of granting the use of the house in Petrovaradin where Ban Josip Jelacic, the governor of Croatia in the mid-19th century, was born, to the Croat community is underway, Zigmanov told reporters during a visit to Tavankut, where he inspected the reconstruction of the local Croat community centre.

“We appreciate President Aleksandar Vucic as more than a reliable partner in addressing problems the Croat community in Serbia is facing and which we pointed out in February this year,” Zigmanov said, adding that this would help relax overall Croatian-Serbian relations.

“I’m certain that the improvement of the position of Croats in Serbia will be looked favourably upon by the government in Zagreb,” he stressed.

Bogdan Laban, the mayor of Subotica and a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, said that about EUR 40,000 had been allocated, with the support of the central and regional government, for the reconstruction of the community centre in Tavankut.

“We take care of all our ethnic minorities, including the Croat community with whom we have excellent relations. We tend to their needs and that will continue in the future,” Laban said.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and her Serbian counterpart Vucic met in Tavankut in June 2016.