ZAGREB, 8 July 2021 - State Secretary in the Central State Office for Croats Abroad Zvonko Milas met in Tivat on Wednesday with representatives of Croatian associations, the head of the Tivat Municipality, and the president of the Tivat Municipal Assembly.

"Relations with the Croat community in Tivat are open, honest, and are constantly progressing. The fact that the Croatian Civic Initiative is not part of the local government is no obstacle to good cooperation and achieving goals that are in the interest of the Croatian community," said Tivat Municipality head Željko Komnenović, recalling a series of activities that testify to harmonious relations, togetherness and coexistence in Tivat and the Bay of Boka Kotorska.

"Our task is to preserve this harmony and rich heritage for generations to come," he stressed.

The leaders of the Tivat Municipality announced that by mid-August the water supply system to the Island of Our Lady of Mercy would be finished, which would solve the problem of water supply to the church and monastery there.

The greatest number of Croats in Montenegro live in Tivat. It has been stressed that the Croatian community has a good status in that country but there are still many open issues, such as the Bokelj Navy.

They are asking that the Republic of Croatia does everything to prevent the nomination to UNESCO submitted by the Montenegrin government from being accepted and that an application is submitted jointly, said State Secretary in the Central State Office for Croats Abroad Zvonko Milas.

Milas thanked for the reception and pointed out the significance of preserving the cultural heritage and identity of Croats in Boka, while Croatian ambassador Veselko Grubišić spoke about the prospects of economic cooperation, which is on an enviable level between Montenegro and Croatia.

In Kotor, Zvonko Milas visited the Croatian Civil Society.

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ZAGREB, 25 March, 2021 - The head of the Central State Office for Croats Abroad on Thursday told the parliament that after the "shameful" decision of the Subotica city's authorities to give a status of an official language to the Bunjevci vernacular, local Croats in Serbia had been receiving more and more threats.

In the wake of the discussions about that wrong and shameful decision by the Subotica City Council, which were also soon followed by the propaganda film "Dara iz Jasenovca",  more and more threats were made against ethnic Croats, notably ethnic Croat leaders in Serbia, Zvonko Milas told the Sabor, while presenting the 2019 report on the implementation of the strategy pertaining to Croat communities outside Croatia.

He also warned that the Subotica decision on the Bunjevci vernacular was against the Croatia-Serbia bilateral agreement on the respective ethnic minorities and that it also led to the further fragmentation of the ethnic Croat community in Vojvodina and Serbia.

Milas said that Croatia would do its utmost to make sure that Slovenia can grant a status of ethnic minority to local Croats.

The community has more than 50,000 members, Milas said adding that Slovenia does not recognise any ethnic rights of those Croats.

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