President Milanović Attends Statute of the Istrian Region Day Ceremony: If we don’t protect our own interests, neither will others
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended today in Poreč a ceremony held in observance of the Day of the Statute of the Istrian Region, a document from 1994 that defines Istria as a multinational and bilingual community that exists as a regional self-government unit within the Republic of Croatia.
Extending his congratulations on the 29th anniversary of the adoption of the Statute of the Istrian Region, President Milanović said in his address at the ceremony that the Statute is a document that in his view represents a very different period in Croatia’s history. “Some other battles of the time were fought here. That was clever and the people who were responsible for that should be congratulated, because if it wasn’t for that group of people, it would not have happened,” said President Milanović.
Insisting on the adoption of the Statute of the Istrian Region was important for Croatia, emphasized President Milanović, adding that this was “above standard.” He reminded that in this regard Croatia, by virtue of its Constitution and constitutional laws and practices, has established the status of national minorities in Croatia as autochthonous. “They have many of those rights that Croats in neighbouring countries do not have, except in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they are a constituent people, yet they are nonetheless disadvantaged. We are saying this simply to remind ourselves and make ourselves aware that we are not quite that bad, that we are building a country that has been based on standards, criteria and values for quite a while,” said the President.
“Istria is probably the only area – no matter how specific and different it is, also because of the large number of Italians and other non-Croatian ethnic communities – that has passed with very high marks the test of humanity and the willingness to be human. And these are not European standards. These are our standards because we have decided that we want to live by such norms and that we expect others to conduct themselves in the same way. This happened many years before Croatia’s entry into the European Union, before any inkling that it would ever happen. That is why this is a major event,” President Milanović underscored.
President Milanović said in conclusion: “Stick to your standards! Let’s play by the rules, make money, and use the space we entered. We can survive as the European Union only if we listen and keep in mind each other’s expectations. Especially the expectations of small nations and small communities like ours. The Croatian people and their country Croatia are small, and the same applies to Istria as it does to Croatia: if we do not address our interests, if we do not tend to them all the time and be selfish in this regard, others will not notice us.”
After the Istria County Assembly adopted the Statute on 30 March 1994, the Government of the Republic of Croatia abolished 36 articles. A long political and legal battle ensued, during which the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia approved 18 articles, but annulled the remaining 18 articles, partially confirming the Government’s decision. The articles of the Statute that were rejected by the Constitutional Court were mainly related to the possibility of allowing bilingualism, i.e. the official use of the Italian language in county institutions. At its session on 19 November 2001, the Istria County Assembly finally re-enacted the annulled articles and this was later approved by the Constitutional Court.
Also speaking about the importance of the Statute of the Istrian Region apart from President Milanović were the Chairwoman of the Istria County Assembly Sandra Ćakić Kuhar, Deputy Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Prefect Petar Mamula, Istria County Prefect Boris Miletić, State Secretary of the Central State Office for Public Procurement and delegate of the Croatian Prime Minister Ivan Bubić, as well as the Head of the Municipality of Sveti Petar u Šumi and delegate of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Mario Bratulić. President Milanović was accompanied at the ceremony by the Adviser to the President of the Republic for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta