A symposium on Croats in Vojvodina Post 1990s – From Peril to Perspectives was staged at the CHF. The event was organised by the Association of Refugee Croats of Srijem, Bačka and Banat.
A symposium on Croats in Vojvodina Post 1990s – From Peril to Perspectives was staged at the Croatian Heritage Foundation on the 6th of May. The event was organised by the Association of Refugee Croats of Srijem, Bačka and Banat.
The event opened with a welcome from Croatian Heritage Foundation director Mijo Marić, Association of Refugee Croats of Srijem, Bačka and Banat president Mato Jurić, member of Serbian parliament Tomislav Žigmanov MP, Member of European Parliament Marijana Petir, the acting deputy to the state secretary at the State Office for Croats Abroad Dario Magdić and Zdravka Bušić in her capacity as the representative of the Croatian prime minister.
The working segment of the event saw Ivana Žanić and Jovana Kolarić of the Humanitarian Rights Fund of Belgrade present a publication titled Dossier: Crimes Against Croatians in Vojvodina. This was followed by the heart-wrenching testimony of Vesna Abjamović on the disappearance of her father and uncle in the village of Morović in the Srijem region.
The event continued with a screening of Nepodobni građani (Citizens Out of Favour). The film details the expulsion of ethnic Croatians from Vojvodina and is produced by the Vojvodina Citizens’ Centre of Novi Sad. The first segment of the event closed with a lecture by Mario Bara PhD of the Croatian Catholic University of Zagreb on The Forced Migrations of Srijem Region Croats in the Scientific Literature and General Literature.
Part two of the event saw Ivana Andrić Penava showcase the work of the Association of Refugee Croats of Srijem, Bačka and Banat. Political scientist Darko Baštovanović spoke of the status of the Croatian community in Serbia in the frame of the democratisation of Serbian society and the Serbian path to European Union affiliation. The event closed with a lecture by Tomislav Žigmanov MP on the challenges facing Croatian political representation in Serbia.
See the Dossier published by the Humanitarian Rights Fund on crimes against Croatians in Vojvodina at the following link: www.hlc-rdc.org
By: Marin Knezović; Photography: Snježana Radoš