Pupovac: We’ll do everything so relations in Croatia are ‘not disrupted’

NEWS 14.09.202120:34 0 komentara
N1

Croatian Serb MP Milorad Pupovac said on Tuesday that regardless of expectations, he would do everything so that 15 September, which Serbia marks as Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag Day, did not disrupt relations either in Croatia or between Croatia and Serbia. Pročitaj više

Pupovac, leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party and the Serb National Council (SNV), held a press conference on the occasion of said day, for which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic proposed that Serbs around the world display Serbia’s national flag.

Pupovac said any show of connection with the mother country and its holidays, which he said were also important for the national minority outside the mother country, should occur in line with the law of the country they lived in. “That applies to the Serb community in Croatia and to Croatia in relation to the Serb community.”

He said it was important to remove all misconceptions about that because Croatia had a law stipulating that other countries’ flags could be used only for official or business purposes.

Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia must respect their laws

“It’s of great importance that we all understand that it’s imperative for Serbs in Croatia to respect Croatia’s laws and for Croats to respect Serbia’s laws,” Pupovac said, adding that this also applied to other minorities in the two countries as well as foreign nationals.

That should be distinguished from the use of flags which national minorities in Croatia use as their own official flags, recognised by the National Minorities Council, he said, adding that this recognition was based on the constitutional law on the rights of national minorities and the use by local government statutes.

Pupovac said the Serb community in Croatia had the national flag of Serbs as its official flag and that, just as the Croatian and European flags, it was constantly on display at official SNV premises which, he added, were also premises for public events. Those flags will be displayed tomorrow just as they are today, he said.

“The difference is only in that in some municipalities and towns, those flags are displayed on the front of buildings housing Serb institutions… That shouldn’t bother or scare anyone.”

Where that is not the case, it is up to the SNV to create the necessary prerequisites, together with the authorities,  Pupovac said.

Population census should be conducted with maximum tolerance

Pupovac went on to say that the SNV’s priority now was for the ongoing population census to be conducted “with maximum tolerance and feeling of freedom” so that people could declare their ethnicity, faith and language.

The goal is to nurture the spirit of tolerance and to work daily so that it is not undermined, which did take place last week, he said.

That happened because “disputes over the instalment of a metropolitan bishop spilled over from Montenegro into Croatia, spreading as anti-orthodox and anti-Serb sentiment, and there have been no adequate reaction or concern from those who should have seen to that.”

Pupovac said he did not hold public policy, whether media, state or party, responsible for more attention being paid to inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations in another country than in one’s own.

“We are not and will not be like that, and regardless of various expectations, we will do everything so that tomorrow doesn’t disrupt relations in Croatia or those between Croatia and Serbia,” Pupovac said.

Kakvo je tvoje mišljenje o ovome?

Budi prvi koji će ostaviti komentar!