Wreaths were laid on Friday in the Serbian town of Novi Sad on the grave of Josip (Josif) Runjanin, composer of the Croatian national anthem, by Serb National Council (SNV) head Milorad Pupovac, the Novi Sad mayor and officials of the Croat National Council (HNV) in Serbia, to mark the 200th anniversary of Runjanin's birth.

Vojvodina Radio Television quoted Pupovac as saying that that the marking of anniversaries related to Runjanin was important for Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia because Runjanin “created a historic bond between the two peoples.”

HNV president Jasna Vojnic thanked the Novi Sad city administration for renovating Runjanin’s tombstone.

Novi Sad Mayor Milos Vucevic said that Runjanin (1821-1878) “never renounced his Serb Orthodox background and he also loved the Croatian state and people.

“He truly believed in the unity and brotherhood of South Slavs, in the unity of the Serb and Croat peoples,” Vucevic said.

The marking of Runjanin’s birth anniversary was organised by the Serbian Croat minority leadership on the occasion of the day of the election of the first HNV, a Croat ethnic minority holiday observed on 15 December.