President Milanović: Europe is our home, but it is no superstate

“I wish us, citizens of Croatia, to have more zeal, spirit and perspicacity in the way Istria has fought for its interests because Istria won and remained a part of Croatia”, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated in Poreč today at a special session of Istria County Assembly – Diet of Istria on the occasion of the Day of the Istrian Statute.

President Milanović underlined in his address that today Istria is a county in which one lives well and safely, referring to the address of the Istrian County Prefect for whom he said he has become what “every person should be – a home guard, not one in uniform, but one who talked about Istria, its rights, justice and position”. He stressed that this is how it should be when talking about Croatia “a small nation in the European Union having a tendency to become a superstate”.

“I’m still waiting to see the Croatian executive authority in Brussels say – this doesn’t suit us. It’s not really possible that for seven years things that suit Croatia have come from the European Commission and Parliament. It doesn’t mean that we should take up arms, but we should defend what is ours. And be aware that it is yours”, President Milanović clarified.

The President further talked about demographics saying that with regard to the size of Croatia’s population, we should think in different terms, taking Ireland for example. “The Irish have made the most of what they have with the knowledge, hard work and education of their people. The same goes for us. Not just for Istria, but for Croatia too – to stop counting how many of us there is. There are enough of us if we know what we want”, the President noted.

“Europe is our home, but Europe is not a superstate, and we belong to Europe only as much as we want to, respect the rules and be loyal”, he said, and pointed out that in Europe we are not all the same, and that it is not good practice to give advice on how one should live and what one should do to make society better. “People should realize that we are not all alike. When I come to Istria, I know that values and expectations are different than in Imotski, Split or Makarska. To adapt to that does not mean hypocrisy, but an awareness that people are different, that traditions are not the same everywhere, and that there is no harmonization in Europe from top to bottom. Those were foolish ideas of some people earlier in history. We are different – Croats and Irish are different, Istrians and Dalmatians are different, Dalmatians and people of Međimurje are different, and all that in a population of four million. Such differences do not exist among the Irish. Because we are a country of regions in terms of mentality, language, dialects, cultural traditions, food – a Europe in miniature”, President Milanović stated in concluding his address.

A special session of Istria County Assembly – the Istrian Diet was held in the Istrian Assembly hall to mark the Day of the Istrian Statute, a document of 1994 defining Istria as a multinational and bilingual community that represents a regional self-government unit within the Republic of Croatia.

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 of the importance of the Statute of Istria County besides President Milanović were the president of the Istria County Assembly Sandra Ćakić Kuhar, deputy County Prefect of Istria County Jessica Acquavita, Primorje-Gorski Kotar Country Prefect Zlatko Komadina, and Istrian County Prefect Boris Miletić. Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan