IV        Implementation of the articles of the Convention

IV.III

Article 5

1. The Parties undertake to promote the conditions necessary for persons belonging to national minorities to maintain and develop their culture and to preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage.

2. Without prejudice to measures taken in pursuance of their general integration policy, the Parties shall refrain from policies or practices aimed at assimilation of persons belonging to national minorities against their will and shall protect these persons from any action aimed at such assimilation.

National legislation (pursuant to the article 5 of the FCNM):

The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia

Article 12

(1) The Croatian language and the Latin script shall be in official use in the Republic of Croatia.

(2) In individual local units, another language and the Cyrillic or some other script may be introduced into official use along with the Croatian language and the Latin script under conditions specified by law.

Article 15 paragraph 3 (see under Item IV.II National legislation)

Article 40

Freedom of conscience and religion and freedom to manifest religion and other convictions shall be guaranteed.

Article 41

(1) All religious communities shall be equal before the law and shall be separated from the State.

(2) Religious communities shall be free, in conformity with law, publicly to perform religious services, to open schools, educational and other institutions, social and charitable institutions and to manage them, and shall them, and shall in their activity enjoy the protection and assistance of the State.

Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities

Article 3 paragraph 1

(1) The rights and freedoms of persons who belong to national minorities (hereinafter: members of a national minority), as basic human rights and freedoms, shall be an inseparable part of the democratic system of the Republic of Croatia and shall enjoy necessary support and protection, including positive measures to the benefit of national minorities.

Article 7 & 9 (see under Item IV.II National legislation)

Article 10.

Members of national minorities shall have the right to freely use their language and script, privately and publicly, including the right to display signs, inscriptions and other information in the language and script which they use, in compliance with the law.

Article 11.

(1) Members of national minorities shall have the right to education in the language and script which they use.

(2) The education of members of a national minority shall be performed in pre-school institutions, primary and secondary schools and other school institutions (hereinafter: school institution), with the education in the language and script which they use, under the conditions and in the manner stipulated by a special law on the education in the language and script of national minorities.

(3) School institutions with the education in the language and script of a national minority may be established and education may be conducted for a smaller number of pupils than the number which is stipulated for school institutions with education in the Croatian language and script.

(4) The curriculum in the language and script of a national minority shall, except for the general part, obligatorily contain a part, the content of which is related to a specific quality of a national minority (mother tongue, literature, history, geography and cultural opus of a national minority).

(5) The right and obligation of pupils educated in the language and script of national minorities shall be to learn the Croatian language and Latin script according to the determined curriculum, apart from their own language and script.

(6) Educational work in a school institution with the education in the language and script of a national minority shall be conducted by teachers from among the ranks of a national minority who have excellent command of the language and script of the national minority, or by teachers who are not from among the ranks of the national minority, but who have excellent command of the language and script of the national minority.

(7) The institutions of higher education shall organise the conduct of the programme of education of school counsellors and teachers for the performance of tasks of education in the language and script used by national minorities in a part containing specific qualities of a national minority (mother tongue, literature, history, geography and cultural creativity of a national minority).

(8) Members of national minorities may establish pre-school institutions, primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education for the purpose of conducting the education of members of national minorities in the manner and under the conditions stipulated by laws.

(9) Pupils attending schools in the Croatian language and script shall be enabled to learn the language and script of a national minority in the manner stipulated by a special law, according to the curriculum determined by the competent central state administration body, along with providing financial means in the state budget and in the budgets of local self-government units.

Article 12

(1) The equal official use of the language and script used by members of a national minority shall be exercised in the area of a local self-government unit, when members of a particular national minority comprise at least one third of the population of such a unit.

(2) The equal official use of the language and script used by members of a national minority shall also be exercised when it is anticipated in the international agreements which, in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, form a part of the internal legal system of the Republic of Croatia and when it is stipulated by the statute of a local self-government unit or by the statute of a regional self-government unit in compliance with the provisions of a special law on the use of the language and script of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia.

(3) Other conditions and manner of the official use of the language and script used by members of a national minority in the representative and executive bodies and in the procedure before administrative bodies of local self-government units and regional self-government units; in the procedure before the state administration bodies of first instance, in the procedure before judicial bodies of first instance; in the procedures conducted by the State Prosecutor’s Office and notaries public, and by legal persons with public powers, shall be regulated by a special law on the use of language and script of national minorities.

Article 13

The law which regulates the use of language and script of national minorities, and/or the statutes of local self-government units shall stipulate the measures providing for the preservation of traditional names and signs and giving the names of persons and significant events for the history and culture of a national minority in the Republic of Croatia to settlements, streets and squares in the areas traditionally, or to a considerable number, populated by members of national minorities.

Article 14

(1) The use of signs and symbols of national minorities and the celebration of national minorities’ holidays shall be free.

(2) National minorities may display appropriate signs and symbols of national minorities along with the official use of signs and symbols of the Republic of Croatia. When the national anthem and/or a solemn song of a national minority is being performed, the national anthem of the Republic of Croatia shall be obligatorily performed beforehand.

(3) Local self-government units and regional self-government units shall be obliged to stipulate by the statute the official use and the manner of use of the flag and symbols of national minorities.

Article 15

(1) For the purpose of preservation, development, promotion and expression of their own national and cultural identity, members of national minorities may establish associations, endowments and foundations, as well as institutions for the performance of public information activities, cultural, publishing, museum, archival, library and scientific activities.

(2) The Republic of Croatia, local self-government units and regional self-government units, shall finance the activity of institutions as per Paragraph 1 of this Article, according to their possibilities.

(3) Associations, endowments, foundations and institutions as per Paragraph 1 of this Article may state in their title that national minorities are their founders.

Article 16

(1) Members of national minorities, their associations and councils of national minorities or representatives of national minorities shall freely maintain contacts with a nation with which they share the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural and/or religious characteristics and with legal persons with the seat in the area of the state of that nation which perform the tasks of education, science, culture, publishing and humanitarian activities.

(2) The associations of members of national minorities and councils of national minorities or representatives of national minorities may receive from the state bodies of the nation with which they share the characteristics as per Paragraph 1 of this Article and from legal persons of that state, without paying the custom duties, newspapers, magazines, books, movies, videotapes, recordings, in a limited number of copies, which they use for their needs and which they can distribute to members of a national minority without paying a compensation.

(3) The associations of members of national minorities may organise guest performances by professional and amateur cultural and art groups for the members of national minorities and organise other cultural and art performances and exhibitions which contribute to the enrichment of the culture and identity of a national minority. In such cases, foreign persons participating in the conduct of performances and exhibitions shall not need the work permit.

(4) Members of national minorities may freely express their religious affiliation and profess their religion and, in compliance with that, belong to a religious community.

Article 17

(1) On the basis of laws and implementing regulations, which regulate the activities of public information, production and broadcast of radio and television programmes, education, museum, archival and library activity and the protection and preservation of cultural assets, the conditions shall be created for the acquaintance of all citizens of the Republic of Croatia, especially of children and youth, through the content of educational work and through obligatory, as well as optional educational subjects, with the history, culture and religion of national minorities.

(2) With the objective of exercising the provisions of Paragraph 1 of this Article, the measures shall be undertaken which will alleviate the access to the media for members of national minorities.

Article 18

(1) Radio and television stations at the national, regional and local level shall have the task of promoting understanding for the members of a national minority, to produce and/or broadcast programmes intended for the information of members of national minorities in the languages of national minorities, the production and broadcast of programmes which stimulate and improve the preservation, development and expression of cultural, religious and other identity of national minorities, the preservation and protection of their cultural assets and tradition and the production and broadcast of programmes by which members of a national minority in that area get acquainted with the work and tasks of their council of national minority and of the representative of national minorities. Legal persons performing the activity of public information (the press, radio and television) shall enable the associations of members of national minorities and institutions of national minorities to participate in the creation of the programme intended for national minorities.

(2) The state budget and the budgets of local and regional self-government units shall provide the funds for co-financing of programmes of radio and television stations which they own, which programmes are intended for national minorities, in compliance with the possibilities and according to the criteria set forth by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, upon the proposal of the Council for National Minorities, or by the competent bodies of local and regional self-government units upon the proposal of the council of national minorities.

(3) With the aim of exercising the rights of members of national minorities to the information through the press, radio and television in the script and language of a national minority, members of national minorities, their councils of national minorities and representatives of national minorities and their associations may perform the activity of public information (publish newspapers, produce and broadcast radio and television programme and perform the activity of news agencies), in compliance with the law.

The Law on the Use of the Language and Script of Ethnic Minorities in the Republic of Croatia

The Law on Upbringing and Education in the Language and Script of Ethnic Minorities

Comments on the implementation of the Article 5 of the FCNM:

- The Republic of Croatia, through the implementation of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities, special laws and international agreements (possibility to regulate certain rights) and statutes of local and regional self-governments, improved and created formal preconditions essential for persons belonging to minorities in order to preserve and develop their culture and preserve important characteristics of their identity such as religion, language, tradition and cultural heritage as well as conditions for protection of persons belonging to national minorities from violent assimilation.

-  In the period 2000 – 2003, the Republic of Croatia ensured 73.534.076 HRK from its budget for different programs of the minority associations and institutions working in the Republic of Croatia (programs of informing, publishing, cultural amateurism, cultural events aiming to preserve the culture, language and customs of national minorities, programs arisen from the bilateral agreements, through building of the citizens’ mutual trust and programs of creation of preconditions required for establishment of Roma cultural autonomy). As of 2003, the decision on distribution of the resources is made by the Council for National Minorities of the Republic of Croatia whose members are, exclusively, persons belonging to minorities.[1] In 2004, different programs of the associations and institutions were supported by 22.000.000 HRK or 10% more comparing the amount spent in 2003 (20.000.000). The Council distributed that amount to 19 different national minorities that submitted their project proposals. In accordance with the decision by the Council, Serbian national minority was approved 5.753.400 HRK, Italian 4.642.000, Hungarian 2.464.000, Czech 2.212.000, Roma 1.080.000, Ruthenian and Ukrainian 935.000, Slovak 913.000, Bosniak 790.000, Albanian 508.000, Montenegrin 479.000, Macedonian 451.000, Slovenian 451.000, Jewish 436.000, German and Austrian 436.000, Bulgarian 35.000, Polish 25.000 and Russian 20.000 HRK. In addition, 15.000 HRK were approved for the work of the council for national minorities, 154.400 HRK for co-financing of the radio programs at regional and local levels aimed to provide relevant information to persons belonging to minorities in the respective languages, 100.000 HRK for the training of the members of the councils and the representatives of national minorities and 50.000 for the training seminar for young Roma while the undistributed funds (current reserve) is about 50.000 HRK.[2] The Council emphasised that there was e need for co-operation with the representatives and Councils for national minorities in monitoring implementation of the programs of the associations and institutions of national minorities financed from the State budget. For that reason, the Council invited all representatives, councils and co-ordinations of national minorities to monitor the implementation of the programs financed via the Council in the areas where they work.[3] 

- As a problem of preservation of important components of the identity, religion, language, tradition and cultural heritage of Serb community in Knin area, ALTRUIST Center from Split, Knin office, quotes the “Parish Letter” no.2 from April 2000 by Knin priest Mr Nikola S. Skorić – « Many valuable items were robbed or burned. However, the most precious ones were plundered by experts who well knew they value and were waiting for the right moment. I am saddened to say that this heritage is not only valuable to this Church but also to this State. Instead of protecting these values, they became a prey for certain experts and vulture thieves. I shall mention just one example in order to confirm this: the stone built into the temple of St. Djordje (George) was professionally removed from the wall and taken away only because it was the oldest mark and certificate of the existence Serb people in this area. It was pillaged by a person well aware of its historical value.»