The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs sent a protest note to Serbia on Thursday expressing concern about threats, intimidation and insults against representatives of the Croatian minority in the country following a request for the Croatian language to be granted official status in the country.

Following the public debate prompted by the launch of procedure to introduce the speech of the Bunjevci community as an official language in the northern city of Subotica, representatives of the institutions of the Croatian minority in the city have been exposed to strongly-worded insults, threats and intimidation on social media, the Croatian ministry said in a statement.

They have reported the threats to the Subotica police department and expect the Serbian authorities to provide them with adequate protection and bring the perpetrators to justice, the statement added.

The Croatian ministry requested information from the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the steps taken by the competent authorities to protect members of the Croatian community in Vojvodina province.

An unidentified person sent a message to the leadership of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV) on Thursday morning threatening to gun them down. The threat was issued after the leadership of the Croatian community had already been targeted by threats over the request for Croatian to be recognised as an official language.