Serving as chief rapporteur and moderator of the gathering was Robert Skenderović, president of the Scientific Council of the Croatian Institute for History. The gathering was welcomed by CHF director Marin Knezović, who declared the Forum open. Our head of publishing gave a report on the aspects of cooperation the CHF nurtures with the Croatian minority communities. The gathered were also greeted by Petar Barišić, deputy to the head of the States Office for Croatians Abroad.
The Croatian Heritage Foundation staged a successful 18th Croatian Minorities Forum at its premises this 16 November. This annual symposium focuses on the status, issues and current events related to Croatian minority communities in European countries.
The Forum gathered representatives of Croatian minority communities from Austria, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Serbia, joined by representatives of the competent state authorities and research, culture and education institutions in Croatia.
This year’s gathering focused on Research and Culture Cooperation Among the Croatian Minority Communities and the Republic of Croatia (Status and Perspectives). Also joining the representatives of Croatian minority communities at the Forum were the representative of the Croatian President, representatives of the diplomatic offices of Austria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and representatives of ministries and education and culture institutions.
The Forum is conceived as a place of dialogue on the status of research and culture cooperation and as a venue at which to table proposals of measures that could contribute to an improved and more complete mutual cooperation.
Serving as chief rapporteur and moderator of the gathering was Robert Skenderović DSc, president of the Scientific Council of the Croatian Institute for History. The gathering was welcomed by CHF director Marin Knezović, who declared the Forum open. This was followed by a report from Vesna Kukavica, head of the CHF publishing department, on the aspects of cooperation the Croatian Heritage Foundation nurtures with the Croatian minority communities. The gathered were also greeted by Petar Barišić, authorised as the deputy to the head of the States Office for Croatians Abroad.
Marija Hećimović, head of our department for Croatian national minorities is, along with the CHF director and the head of the publishing department, most deserving for the excellent organisation of this gathering.
The following segment included presentations by representatives of the minority communities: Ivo Domnanović, head of the Croatian Centre in Vienna (Austria); Miroslav Franović, president of the Croatian National Council of Montenegro (Tivat) and Dijana Milošević, a member of the Croatian Civic Society of Montenegro (Kotor); followed by Lenka Koprivova, vice president of the Association of Ethnic Croatian Citizens in the Czech Republic (Jevišovka); Antonelle D’Antuono, a member of the Isola Croata del Molise association (Acquaviva Collecroce, Italy); Mišo Hepp, president of the Croatian National Self-government in Budapest; and Stjepan Blažetin, director of the Hungarian Croatian Institute of Sciences (Pécs, Hungary). Representatives from Macedonia at the Forum were Ivan Bradić, president, and Filip Vidović, member, of the Croatian Community in Macedonia (Skopje). Representing the Croatian minority community in Romania was Milja Radan, president, and Ljubomir Radan, member, of Croatian Unity in Romania (Caraşova). Also speaking was Radoslav Janković, president of the Croatian Culture Federation in Slovakia (Hrvatski Jandrof / Jarovce) and Dr Maasz, a member of the Croatian Culture Federation in Slovakia (Čunovo).
This was followed by presentations by Petar Antunović, president of the Federation of Croatian Associations in Slovenia (Ljubljana) and Marko Mandir, president of the Croatian Culture Association of Maribor and Darko Sarić Lukendić, president of the executive committee of the National Council of the Croatian National Minority and Tomislav Žigmanov, director of the Institute for the Culture of Vojvodina Croatians (Subotica).
The presentations were followed by a discussion and closing remarks by CHF director Knezović. Moderator Skenderović read the conclusions of the 18th Croatian Minorities Forum, signed by the representatives of the minority communities. The Forum closed with the singing of the Croatian national anthem in honour of our generals and the Croatian homeland.
Text by: Željka Lešić; Photos by: Snježana Radoš