The Serb People's Council (SNV), an umbrella organisation of ethnic Serbs in Croatia, held in Zagreb on Friday its traditional reception ahead of Christmas according to the Julian calendar, and on this occasion Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic promised the application of the bilingualism legislation in communities where ethnic minorities account for more a third of the local population.
Milanovic said that this would be implemented in such communities not only because of the fact that Croatia "is a law-based country but also because it is a correct country".
He also said that the legislation on bilingualism would not be amended as he held the valid legislation to be good.
He used this occasion also to comment on the "bad and ugly discussions" on the introduction of health education in schools.
The premier admitted that he was toying with the idea of "setting up an association of parents who disagree with some sentences in the present history textbooks".
"It (those sentences) is contrary to my world view, but for some reason I let it go" Milanovic said, also criticising some parts of the required school readings and claiming that, nevertheless, children learn about some writers who, he said, were anti-Semites.
"Should I set up an association? Is this the right move? Maybe it is, but this is not my way," Milanovic said, disclosing his dilemma about such "legitimate provocation" and calling on everybody to realise "how flexible and able to put up with conflicts society is."
Addressing the SNV function, Parliament Speaker Josip Leko extended his best wishes to the Orthodox faithful on Christmas.
He promised that the Sabor, the top law-making body, would know how and want to build standards for democratic rights and human freedoms for everyone.
Leko described the Sabor as the pivotal place for preserving democratic values.
On behalf of President Ivo Josipovic, who did not attend this year's Christmas function unlike previous years when he was a regular guest, his envoy Sinisa Tatalovic extended season's greetings.
"The President has in various ways highlighted the preservation of the identity of ethnic minorities, which is part of the responsibility of the Republic of Croatia as a law-based country," Tatalovic said. The president's envoy praised the SNV and the Serbian Orthodox Church for their contribution in Croatia.
These days all of us are expressing our wishes and we should also "judge what has been done, taking into account our own responsibility," Tatalovic said.
SNV leader Milorad Pupovac sad that in 2013 he expected the fostering of tolerance in culture, in language use and in education as well as support to the SNV and other associations of ethnic Serbs.
"We don't want patronage over the organisations that we have created for decades. We want more tolerance towards the institutions of the Serb community and other ethnic minorities and towards differences in society that have not yet assumed an institutional form," the ethnic Serb leader said.
He noted that change of governments in democracies should not be an obstacle to cooperation, and added that he was sure that the governments in Serbia and Croatia were aware of the need to improve cooperation.
Also, Pupovac presented the SNV awards to Tatjana Music Olujic for her contribution to the development of the Serb community's institutions, Mirjana Galo for humanity, and former Croatian president Stjepan Mesic for his role in preserving the values of anti-Fascism. The SNV also posthumously awarded Josip Reihl Kir, a high-ranking war-time Osijek police officer, for the development of Croatian-Serb relations.
Dignitaries of the Serb Orthodox Church joined in the best wishes on this occasion.
