The Serb National Council (SNC), the national coordination of Councils of the Serb national minority, is a democratically elected political, advisory and coordinating body that acts as the self-government of the Serbs in the Republic of Croatia
The SNC is involved in the protection and promotion of human, civil and national rights of Serbs, and deals with the issues of their identity, participation and integration in the Croatian society. The Council was founded on the basis of the Erdut Agreement and The Letter of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the completion of the peaceful reintegration, both of which guarantee to the Serbs the right to local minority self-government and the right to organise, as well as on the bases of centuries-long tradition of Serbian self-government (from the first church/public assemblies, to the legislative and political acts regulating the position of Serbs in Croatia during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the documents of the National Anti-Fascist Council).
The founding assembly of the Council was held in 1997 in Zagreb at the initiative of the Alliance of Serbian Organizations and its members: Serbian Cultural Society ‘Prosvjeta’, Serbian Democratic Forum, Community of Serbs of Rijeka and Istria, as well as the Joint Council of Municipalities (JCM). The founding members also included the Independent Democratic Serb Party (IDSP), Baranja Democratic Forum, Association of Serbian Refugees and Exiled Serbs from Croatia, representatives of some church parishes of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Members of Parliament of Serbian ethnicity and distinguished individuals.
Following the adoption of the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in 2002, the organisational structure of national minorities’ councils also changed. Members of councils are elected by secret ballot, in elections organised by the State (so far, six rounds have been held – in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023) in all local self-government units where the Serb population exceeds the threshold of 1.5 percent. At municipality level, the council is elected if there are at least 200 members of the Serb community living there. At county level this number amounts to 500. In case when one or more of these conditions are not met and there are at least 100 Serb community members, a council representative is elected.
By the end of 2023, six rounds of elections were organised. Currently, the SNC network consists of 144 councils with a total of 1.744 councillors.