ZAGREB, 4 May, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday that law professor Zlata Đurđević was his candidate for the Supreme Court president and asked members of parliament to think carefully before they reject her because he would not give up.

"I am taking this opportunity to ask members of parliament to think carefully about whether they want to turn down such a competent and good candidate for the Supreme Court president, because we have never had a better candidate," Milanović told reporters during a visit to Ogulin.

Đurđević morally, intellectually up to the task, competent

"They should disregard all the lies, fabrications, Lex Perković... That was all a lie, she is completely clean, morally and intellectually up to the task, as well as competent. If they choose to vote against her, I will not hang tough on this nomination."

Milanović repeated that Đurđević was his candidate, that under the Constitution he proposed the candidate for Supreme Court president and that no parliamentary committee or the Supreme Court Council would be able to change his mind.

"I am the President, I propose the candidate and explain my choice and the parliament has the right to turn them down," he said.

"I believe that the parliamentary majority will opt for the candidate whom I consider excellent. I will ask each MP individually to state the reasons they are against her," Milanović said, dismissing speculation that the judicial authorities were in a state of crisis.

Asked if he would meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Milanović said that he was always ready for talks with the prime minister.

"I invited him to lay wreaths with me in Okučani, he chickened out," he said.

As for Sunday's incident in Borovo Selo, where a group of young men marched through the town chanting anti-Serb messages, Milanović repeated that police were under the influence of politics, that is, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović and PM Plenković, and that he considered them responsible for the incident.

Asked about Serb minority MP Milorad Pupovac's comment that Milanović, too, was responsible for incidents, Milanović said ironically "Yes, I'm to blame for the Kennedy assassination as well. He was killed in 1963, I was born in 1966 but I had my hand in it."

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ZAGREB, 13 April, 2021 - The Serb National Council (SNV) presented its annual report on Tuesday, warning of cases of hate speech and violence targeting ethnic Serbs, including physical assaults, threats and property destruction, and expressing concern about a slow and inadequate reaction from the state authorities.

The SNV said that historical revisionism and views denying the legacy of the anti-fascist struggle during the Second World War were not rare and were mostly directed against the Serbs, resulting in hatred and violence.

SNV president Milorad Pupovac noted that the legislative framework included provisions that should prevent such manifestations, but they were not applied systematically and uniformly. He cited inconsistent court practice in the treatment of the Ustasha salute "For the Homeland Ready."

Pupovac said that the legislative changes were not sufficient if not supported by appropriate education and media policies. He said that other people too were targeted by hate speech and historical revisionism.

"Rudeness, intolerance and hatred are the three worrying types of discourse  when it comes to any differences, opposed views or identity. They can be stopped only if we fight for tolerance and discussion," Pupovac said.

The author of the report, Tihomir Ponoš, said that the findings were similar to those from previous years, but that the number of attacks was lower than in 2019, possibly partly due to the coronavirus outbreak.

A total of 214 cases of historical revisionism, hate speech and violence against Serbs were recorded in 2020, compared to 400 in 2019 and 381 to 2018.

The most frequent were insults and threats made against Serbs and Serb institutions in Croatia (50 cases), hate speech and ethnic intolerance in the media (3), ethnic intolerance and historical revisionism in statements by public figures (35), graffiti and insignia expressing hate speech and ethnic intolerance (30), physical assaults (21), hate speech and ethnic intolerance at sporting events (8), damaged or stolen property of individuals and Serb institutions (8), damaged or destroyed anti-fascist monuments (7), damaged or destroyed bilingual boards (3).

The SNV also expressed concern about a growing number of ethnic-based physical assaults in the eastern town of Vukovar, and the spraying of Ustasha insignia on the walls of public buildings and monuments.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, Oct 28, 2020  - Vukovar City Council concluded by a majority vote on Wednesday that conditions have not yet been reached to expand ensured individual rights and to regulate collective rights for members of the Serb minority who live in that town.

The conclusion was adopted following several hours of debating on the achieved level of understanding, solidarity, tolerance, and dialogue among Vukovar residents - members of the Croat majority population and the Serb national minority. The conclusion received the support of 15 councilors while 6 voted against it.

The conclusion notes that in conditions "when fundamental human rights are still neglected for a vast majority of Vukovar residents of all ethnicities, who opposed the Great Serbia aggression in 1991, and that is the right to life, human dignity, and human freedom, because of the systematic deferment of launching proceedings against perpetrators of war crimes, the necessary preconditions have not been achieved to recognize new special rights to the Serb national minority within the framework of the equal use of the language and script."

The Council for the Serb National Minority of the City of Vukovar commented on the proposed conclusion in writing earlier, saying that Mayor Ivan Penava has not made sufficient effort to mend relations between Croats and Serbs in Vukovar which, the council said, can be seen in the fact that the proposed conclusion is identical to the one adopted last year.
 
The council also complained that Mayor Penava is constantly warning of impunity for war crimes committed in Vukovar in 1991 against the majority of people while never referring to crimes committed against Vukovar Serbs. The Hungarian and Ukraine minorities' council supported the draft conclusion.

The City Statute obliged the City Council to discuss the state of human rights in Vukovar each October, or at least once in two years, and to adopt a decision on that basis.

Today's City Council meeting was held without reporters, who were given an audio recording of the meeting with the explanation that such a decision was made due to the deteriorated epidemiological situation.

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