MINELREL-L Archive (05022001-18:00:53-22126)

Fwd: AIM: Croatia against Bilingual and Autonomous Istria


Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:00:51 +0300 (EEST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: Fwd: AIM: Croatia against Bilingual and Autonomous Istria


From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor
<[email protected]>

Fwd: AIM: Croatia against Bilingual and Autonomous Istria


Copyright: All those wishing to use or publish the following text are
welcome to do so, provided that they indicate the source and inform
the AIM office in Paris which is interested to receive comments and
reactions on the information it provides.
AIM, 17 rue Rebeval, F-75019 Paris, France, [email protected]
 
*** Croatia against Bilingual and Autonomous Istria
 
AIM Zagreb, April 18, 2001

On Tuesday, April 9, the traditionally most disobedient Croatian
region, Istria, proclaimed a specific autonomy. After a two-hour
session of the assembly of Istrian District in Pazin, the statute of
this Croatian region was amended with 27 votes in favour and six
abstained, and without a single vote against. Significant amendments
were introduced in the new text of the Statute. On the territory of
the district Italian language acquired equality with Croatian, so in
all the places and municipalities where a sizable Italian group lives,
their mother tongue will be the official language. This practically
means that all identity papers, official forms, names of streets and
similar, will be written in two languages. The district assembly of
Istria has also acquired a new second name: Dieta Istriana. The new
Statute of the District also prescribes the possibility of expressing
special regional affiliation - being Istrian - as an expression of
belonging to the Istrian multi-ethnic community. The Statute includes
the principle of according to which everything that can be done by low
instances of power shall be left to them to do while only what is
inevitable functions are transferred to higher instances - and the
principle of regionalism, that is, the support to transnational
regional cooperation. More or less these are the elements that the
Istrian District already had in its Statute three years ago, but then
the Constitutional Court annulled the decisions of the district
assembly. The circumstances were essentially different: Croat
Democratic Community (HDZ) ruled the state, and Istrian Democratic
Union (IDS) was in the opposition. Nowadays IDS is part of the
Croatian ruling coalition, HDZ has already forgotten what it is like
to be in power, but it seems that everything else has remained very
similar as before.

Proclamation of the autonomy in Pazin provoked such strong resistance
of continental political forces - it was condemned by severe political
curses about "autonomy lovers" and "separatism" - that uninformed
observers could have thought that it was just a mere re-run of one of
the previous conflict of IDS and HDZ.  Chairman of the Croatian
Assembly Zlatko Tomcic estimated that the move of IDS was a premature,
petty political, pre-election gesture, and threatened with the split
of the coalition of six parties if the Statute remained in force.
Prime Minister Racan declared that the government would, all things
considered, give the decision to the Constitutional Court to consider,
threatening that it would be nullified. Drazen Budisa, the third
important partner in the coalition of six, added the assessment that
Italian and Croatian languages could not be in official equal use for
a number of reasons among which the fact that is neither the last nor
the least is that in Italy in places and provinces where the Croats
are the majority population, like Molisi region, this is not the case.
Both Tomcic and Budisa stressed as a potential threat the possibility
that certain other regions, that is, certain other minorities might
follow the lead of Istria. Even the very liberal parties in the
coalition of the six, such as HNS of Vesna Pusic, opposed the decision
of IDS condemning the Istrian cadre within this party which have not
opposed the vote for the �autonomy status�. State television station
devoted significant time to the attacks against the move of IDS, while
five coalition partners of IDS were in session for a whole day in
Zagreb, competing, in absence of IDS, in finding the sharpest words of
condemnation for the move of the Istrians.

Only from the Liberal Party of Zlatko Kramaric it was possible to hear
expressions of understanding for the decision made in Pazin.
Ultimatums were heard from both parties due to which it can hardly be
imagined that the government will survive in its present structure.
Zlatko Tomcic, president of the Croatian Peasants� Party � the third
ranking party in the coalition � conditioned the remaining of IDS in
the government by the withdrawal of the Statute. The Istrians,
however, prefer to have their Statute than to participate in the
government. "Political principles on which we are standing for ten
years already we shall not sell for ministerial posts" said Ivan
Jakovcic, president of IDS and minister of European integration in
Racan's government. "If the Constitutional Court establishes that our
decisions are founded on law and the Constitution, we expect an
apology from all those who have attacked us, and I do not eliminate
the possibility of dissolution of the government". Jakovcic assessed
that the other possibility � that small parties such as IDS and LS be
thrown out of the coalition of six parties - was unfair. "In that case
it would be fair to schedule new elections because the voters did not
place their trust in the latest parliamentary elections in the
coalition of three, but of six parties and restructuring of the
government would in such condition, be a
fraud".

Because of the forthcoming local and regional elections Jakovcic
demanded an urgent declaration of the government concerning this
problem giving it the time limit by May 15. According to him, the
amendment of the Statute of the District was not a politically
relevant act: it is simply implementation of Croatian laws, primarily
of the Constitution and the Law on Local Self-administration which was
recently passed by the Assembly and which offers a complete legal
framework for all the reached decisions. Jakovcic considers the
attacks against IDS as petty politicking and concerning the
allegations that IDS wished to attract support of the voters in the
forthcoming elections with this move he declared that he could say the
same about his opponents. According to him, other parties will base
their campaign in Istria on the attacks against IDS, so they needed
this whole hubbub only because of the elections. It is indeed hard to
disregard the fact that the decision on the amendment of the Statute
of the Istrian District was made just before the beginning of the
election campaign in Croatia.

Besides, the Statute has experienced quite drastic amendments. In view
of the fact that only between seven and eight per cent of the
population in Istria are Italians the reached level of protection of
minority rights is a precedent in Europe, as Jakovcic himself admits.
On the other hand, the undisturbed almost ten-year long rule of IDS in
Istria has shaken the position of this party on the biggest Croatian
peninsula. Among the local population it is lately possible to hear
assessments on absolute power of IDS in Istria, nepotism, corruption
and similar. Therefore the negative campaign from Zagreb is very
useful for IDS. All that uproar from the capital, the oversized
disapproval, will quite certainly unite the Istrian electorate and
bring to the polls a large number of those who intended to abstain.
For the parties from the coalition that are attacking IDS this turmoil
will help somewhat improve their rating among "patriotic" circles for
which even the slightest notion about autonomy of Istria has the same
effect as waving a red cloth in front of a bull.

Regardless of the political, or rather, pre-election motives of IDS
and its opponents, it is possible to draw two far-reaching political
conclusions from the story about the Statute. First, Racan�s
government is not inclined towards broadening of minority rights,
either in Istria or anywhere else in Croatia. That might be the real
reason for resistance to the move of Istrian assembly. Official Zagreb
fears that such a move could cause the wish primarily of the Serb
minority to pass similar provisions in the assemblies where they are
the majority population. Such a move would cause a real turmoil in
Croatia.  Renaming of the streets in Donji Lapac � without any doubt
absolutely in accordance with the law - has already caused terrible
reactions of Croatian political parties who already imagined new logs
on the roads across Lika, Banija and northern Dalmatia (that is how
the war in Croatia began). Milan Djukic, leader of Serb People�s Party
immediately welcomed the move of IDS, of course.

The second political conclusion is the one about the obvious
structural weakness of the coalition government. Analysts claim that
immediately after the local and regional elections in the end of May
it is possible to expect not just the announced reconstruction of the
government structure, but  also of the parties that will form it.
According to them, there is a big chance that four major parties (SDP,
HSLS, HSS and HNS) will simply throw out the two minor, ideologically
different ones (IDS ad LS) and form a new government. The final
conclusion could despite everything be favourable. From the raised
noise everybody could gain some benefit. Until the very elections IDS
will, quite certainly, practically have a free campaign. For this move
they will get strong support in Istria and keep power in the
peninsula, which they are concerned with the most. If they do not
remain in the government, the coalition of six will restructure
itself, so if IDS and LS are thrown out of the government, they will
be able to form a strong "left" opposition to the existing
administration which was so far opposed only by the members of HDZ and
Rightist parties associated with it. Racan�s government and its
partners will also gain some support on the peninsula, but also in
Croatia, demonstrating an enviable quantity of patriotism which not
even HDZ would have been ashamed of. Such a big reform of the
government would give Racan more time in power which in the current
Croatian situation is quite a valuable gain.

The decision on whether the Statute of Istrian District is legal will
have to be made by the Ministry of the Justice. It is expected to
issue its judgements whether the text of the Statute is in accordance
with the law. As it is more than certain that the Ministry (controlled
by Racan�s SDP) will take a negative stand, the final decision will
have to be made by the Constitutional Court. It will also probably be
negative, so that the forecasts of dissolution of the ruling coalition
seem quite credible. In the whole story about the Istrian Statute,
only one fact is negative � and sad: that the new Croatian
administration, even after HDZ, is afraid of its own minorities and
wishes to offer them only as many rights as it is forced to do.

# Boris Raseta

(AIM)


Balkan Human Rights List
Subscribe: [email protected]
Unsubscribe: [email protected]

Home: 
Balkan Human Rights Web Pages: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
The Balkan Human Rights List:
http://www.egroups.com/group/balkanhr/fullinfo.html
The Greek Human Rights List:
http://www.egroups.com/group/greekhr/fullinfo.html
Dikaiomatika! [monthly human rights review in Greek]:  
http://www.egroups.com/group/dikaiomatika/fullinfo.html

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================