The Serbian Minister for the Diaspora, Srdjan Sreckovic, says that the position of the Serbs in neighbouring countries is far from desirable and that Belgrade will therefore ask for the Serbs in Croatia to be given the status of a constituent people, Danas daily said on Saturday.
Sreckovic told Danas in an interview that the Serbs were stripped of that status in 1990, and that despite the fact their number was now about 200,000, they are still the most numerous ethnic minority in Croatia.
"For that reason, our request for the status of constituent people in that country is legitimate. But realistically, it will be a long way before we reach that goal," Sreckovic said.
Sreckovic said that the recently adopted National Strategy for Cooperation between Serbia and its diaspora completed the institutional framework for a long-term policy towards the Serbs living outside Serbia. He added that the policy would not depend on the political composition of the government or individual party interests.
"The position of the Serb people in the countries of the region is far from what we would like it be and far from the position guaranteed by conventions, although progress has been made. The situation is gradually improving in all the countries and I believe we all will be better off one day when we are in the united Europe," the minister said.
