ZAGREB, May 18, 2019 - The Croat community in Serbia is in possession of a part of the house where Ban (Viceroy) Josip Jelačić, who served as the governor of Croatia from 1848 to 1859, was born, after the Serbian government donated 600,000 euro for its purchase, but it still does not serve as the community centre of ethnic Croats, which will be its purpose, a conference said in Petrovaradin, a section of Novi Sad, on Friday.
"So far the Croats of Petrovaradin have not had any space to meet and show and promote their culture. We will have at our disposal the basement, the ground floor and one apartment in the house, with a total area of 300 square metres," Croat National Council (HNV) vice-president Darko Vuković told the Croatian-language media in Vojvodina.
The house needs thorough renovation, he said, adding that the Croat community expected help from the Town of Novi Sad and the governments of Serbia and its northern province of Vojvodina.
Vuković said the local Croat community wanted the house to become "an attractive cultural centre with tourism potential, where guests will be received, cultural events held, and where business people from Serbia and Croatia will meet. The property will also be used for Croatian consular services and serve as the HNV office."
The purpose of the Petrovaradin conference was to present information on how similar, well-established cultural centres in Croatia and Vojvodina operate.
The Croat minority in Vojvodina had been asking for years to be given the house of Viceroy Jelačić, built in 1745, so that it could turn it into a memorial centre and the seat of the local Croat minority.
Progress in that regard was made after Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's visit to Zagreb in February 2018, when the status of the property was defined during talks on the status of the Croat minority in Serbia.
More news about the status of Croats in Serbia can be found in the Diaspora section.
