Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek said on Wednesday that a draft bill on the Croatian language refers to the public use of the language, not to its standardisation for writers and creative expression.

“Our goal is to bring order to the public use of the Croatian language because for the past ten years Croatia has been a member of the European Union where Croatian is recognised as an official language, and most other member states have such a law,” said Minister Obuljen Koržinek in a panel debate dedicated to the draft bill held as part of the Mediterranean Book Festival, which opened today in Split.

She emphasised that the bill, which will soon receive a first parliamentary reading, will not prescribe anything, nor are any penalties foreseen.

The public debate has ended and numerous proposals are now being analysed, she added.

She recalled  that in the public debate, the majority supported the bill, but there were also critics who considered it unnecessary.

“With this law, we as a state want to affirm the Croatian language in public use in the communication of public (state) bodies, in documents, decisions, regulations…”

When asked why the European Union mentions in the proposed text of that law that the Croatian language will be used when submitting proposals/documents since this practice is even now in place, the minister replied that in this way they want to emphasize the recognition and promotion of the Croatian language.