Conference paper

NATIONAL MINORITIES IN CROATIA

Siniša Tatalović ; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

For Croatia as an independent state, the regulation and the realization of the freedoms and rights of national minorities have become a major test and measure of the degree of the democratization of the society as well as one of the essential conditions for economic and political integration into Europe. Taking the Croatian legal framework as our starting point, the realization of the rights of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia can be viewed at four levels: cultural autonomy, education in minority languages and alphabets, proportional representation in government both at the national and the local level, and the cross-border cooperation of national minorities. A review of the condition of the rights of national minorities in Croatia shows that the cultural autonomy rights are optimally utilized, due to their good organization, by those national minorities that enjoyed those rights before the creation of the independent Croatia. The “new” national minorities are still organizing themselves in order to realize more fully their minority rights. A variety of European organizations and institutions who promote European stability and security are especially active in encouraging the protection of national minorities in Croatia.

Keywords

Croatia; ethnic rights; cultural autonomy; local autonomy; national minorities

Hrčak ID:

24574

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/24574

Publication date:

28.1.2002.

Article data in other languages: croatian

Visits: 12.049 *