As many as 45% of the Serbs say that the Croats are the most hated people in that country, and every one in three Serbs dislike the Albanians, according to findings of a survey recently published by the Belgrade-based Blic newspaper.

The Croats top the ranking of the most detested people among the Serbs. As many as 45% say they have negative attitudes towards the citizens of that country with which Serbia borders. Albanians are the second most disliked people in Serbia, reads the comment on the survey’s findings.

Blic reports that 33% of respondents show anti-Albanian sentiments, whereas 68% of the Albanians harbour resentment against the Serbs.

On the other hand, the Greeks seem to be most liked people for the Serbs.

“The Croats have the status of the most hated people in Serbia! It is a consequence of the permanent anti-Croat sentiment in the public sphere, mainly generated by public office-holders,” the Croat leader in Serbia, Tomislav Zigmanov tweeted on his account.

“This study, unfortunately, only confirms the things which I have been highlighting in the past year as a political champion (of the Croat cause): resentment and stereotypes against the Croats are widespread in Serbia! This is a consequence of strong and prevailing anti-Croat contents in statements of a relatively high number of Serbian senior officials,” Zigmanov says.

He underscores that it seems desirable in Serbia to negatively depict in the political discourse people, processes and events from Croatia.

The anti-Croat sentiments are the reason why local Croats in Serbia feel fear, insecurity and unpreparedness for active participation in their communities.

Thus, the number of enrolled first-grade pupils (in Croatian-language education) dropped by a third in the ongoing school year compared to the previous one, according to Zigmanov’s statement on his Twitter account.