The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) on Sunday called on the authorities in the province of Vojvodina and in Serbia to implement the provisions of the Serbian Constitution and the Vojvodina statute stipulating the official use of the Croatian language in Vojvodina.

The party led by Nenad Canak recalls that Article 79 of the Serbian Constitution and the Vojvodina statute envisage the official use of the Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Ruthenian and Croatian languages and scripts.

The LSV party recalls that in 2002, during Canak’s term as the speaker of the Vojvodina Province Assembly, this regional legislature adopted a decision on the official use of the Croatian language in the assembly.

The latest request ensues after the leaders of the Croatian community in Vojvodina on Friday sent a proposal to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić that the language of the Croat ethnic minority should be recognised as an official language in the whole territory of the northern province of Vojvodina.

The Croatian National Council (HNV) web portal reported on Friday evening about this initiative launched by the leadership of ethnic Croats in Serbia in response to the plans of the local authorities in the city of Subotica to approve the official use of the Bunjevci vernacular spoken by members of a local community who identify themselves as non-Croat Bunjevci.

Under the current law, local government units must grant the official use of an ethnic minority’s language and script if that minority accounts for at least 15% of the local population. According to the 2011 census, 13,553 citizens, or 9.57% of Subotica residents, identify themselves as Bunjevci.

Despite the fact that the size of the Bunjevci community did not reach the 15% share in the population requirement and despite the fact that this vernacular does not have the status of a language according to linguistic standards, Subotica Mayor Stevan Bakic of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) moved to amend the city statute to introduce the Bunjevci dialect and script as an official language.

The HNV leader Vojnic says that, encouraged by this example of such positive discrimination which is applied in the case of the Bunjevci community, the Croatian community “is looking forward to future initiatives of local office-holders to help minorities exercise similar rights in settlements where ethnic Croats live.”

The LSV party today underscores that the matter of the official use of the Croatian language is not just a local issue, and the relevant decision should be implemented in the whole territory of Vojvodina.