Institutions - Srpsko Narodno Vijeće

In the Republic of Croatia there are institutions and organizations which focus on human, civil and national rights of Serbs and promote our cultural and religious identity. Apart from the Serbian Orthodox Church and the representatives of Serbs in the Croatian Parliament, there are also organizations in Croatia with rich and long tradition such as Serb Cultural Association Prosvjeta and the Serbian Business Association Privrednik. Furthermore, there is the Joint Council of Municipalities (ZVO), based on Erdut Agreement, an international legal act that started the process of peaceful re-integration of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, was founded. It represents a body which aligns the interests of Serbs in eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, coordinates initiatives and makes recommendations to authorities.

The Serb Cultural Association Prosvjeta

The Serb Cultural Association Prosvjeta was founded in November 1944 in Glina. The Association was active up to 1971 and Croatian Spring movement when its activities were terminated since they were regarded equal to those of Matica hrvatska. Prosvjeta was forbidden and formally abolished. The Association was restored in 1993.

This traditional cultural organization of Serbs in Croatia assembles the members of the Serb community with the aim of affirming and developing their national identity, has over 1000 members in 50 subcommittees in Croatia. The Serb Cultural Association Prosvjeta promotes cultural and historical aspects of Serbian tradition in Croatia. Its members and associates study and present history, culture and contemporary life of Serbs through a set of various activities such as exhibitions, tribunals, writers’ evenings, promotions of publications as well as folklore, musical and sports activities.

It also devotes special attention to publishing. Prosvjeta publishes a cultural magazine Prosvjeta and magazine for elementary school children Bijala Pčela. The publishing activities are focused on publications dealing with the past and present of Serbs in Croatia and on defining their position in historic context. Some subcommittees have their own libraries whereas the biggest one is the Central Library of Serbs in Zagreb with more than 21,000 titles.

The Serb Cultural Association Prosvjeta has initiated supplementary educational program for Serbian minority students because, since 1991, Serbian educational contents were no longer a part of official and regular Croatian educational curriculum. Prosvjeta has been actively participating in the field of education of and for minorities since 1993 when the model C of education practice in the national minority language was implemented.

Serbian Business Association Privrednik

The Serbian Business Association Privrednik was founded in Zagreb in 1897 under the initiative of a Serb merchant and philanthropist Vladimir Matijević and represents one of the most significant Serbian economic and educational institutions. It was Matijević’s idea to found an association which would systematically work on locating, upbringing and schooling of talented but poor children from Dalmatia, Lika, Kordun, Banija, Slavonia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Vojvodina. The aim was to provide vocational trade and merchant schooling to the children so to help them become independent skilled craftsmen who would form the basis of economic revitalization necessary for cultural and social revival of community.

As the activities of the Serbian Business Association Privrednik developed over time, Patronage Fund was established in 1911. This body was in charge of documents, last wills and testaments, funds, realty investments, state’s and other securities trading. It was also responsible for cash investment and granting loans.

The first issue of Privrednik newspaper dealing with topics related to everyday life was published in 1898. The newspaper published information important to the farmers, cooperators, tradesmen and craftsmen. It also dealt with numerous social, educational, moral and health issues.

The Serbian Business Association Privrednik’s activities were banned three times in 1914, 1941 and in 1946. However, it was established again on December 18, 1993 despite the very difficult and uncertain war period. Nowadays, Privrednik incorporates a youth club Privrednik Junior and the Vladimir Matijević Scholarship Fund. It publishes magazine Privrednik, as a supplement to the independent Serb weekly Novosti, issued every first Friday in a month. The mentioned activities mark Association’s return to its core values – agricultural development of rural areas mostly populated by Serbs and further growth of individual potentials and expert abilities.

Serbian Orthodox Church

The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous independent Orthodox Christian Churches, member of Orthodox communion. The Church achieved autocephalous status in 1219 under the leadership of St Sava. Nowadays it has the status of a patriarchy with the eparchies all around former Yugoslavia, Europe, North America and Australia. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia consists of Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana and the following eparchies: Dalmatia, Upper Karlovac, Slavonia, Osječko polje nad Baranja, and Zahumlje-Herzegovina incorporating the city of Dubrovnik. The Council of Episcopes is the Serbian Orthodox Church’s ruling body in Croatia. It is presided by Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb and Ljubljana. The Council’s members are the Episcope Nikodim of Dalmatia, Episcope Gerasim of Upper Karlovac, Episcope Sava of Slavonia and Episcope Heruvim of Osječko polje and Baranja.

Serb Representatives in the Parliament

In line with the Law on election of Members of the Croatian Parliament and based on the Constitutional Law on National Minorities, the Republic of Croatia guarantees national minority members the right to be represented in the Parliament.

Members of national minorities who represent more than 1,5 percent of the total population of the Republic of Croatia are guaranteed a maximum of three seats in the parliament, and their right is exercised based on the special election right on party lists, lists of national minority associations or lists proposed by minority voters. National minorities who participate in the total population of the Republic of Croatia with less than 1,5 percent have the right to elect five representatives, members of national minorities, which cannot diminish the national minorities’ rights.

Thus, members of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia have the right to elect eight representatives to Croatian Sabor. Of these, members of the Serb minority elect three representatives, while members of Hungarian, Italian, Czech and Slovak minority elect one representative respectively. Members of the Albanian, Bosniak, Montenegrin, Macedonian and Slovenian national minority jointly elect one representative, the same as members of Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Polish, Roma, Rumanian, Rusyn, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vlach and Jewish minority who jointly elect one representative.

National minority members are elected in a special electoral unit which is the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia. It is done so that in individual elections for the national minority representative, a candidate will be chosen who has received the most votes from voters of that particular minority and who voted at the elections.

Representatives of the Serbian national minority in Sabor: Milorad Pupovac, Boris Milošević, Anja Šimpraga

For more information please visit Croatian Parliament and SDSS

Joint Council of Municipalities

The Joint Council of Municipalities (ZVO) is a body which aligns the interests of Serbs in eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, coordinates the initiaives and makes recommendations to government institutions. The Council is formed by municipalities from Vukovar-Srijem and Osijek-Baranja Counties: Trpinja, Erdut, Markušica, Borovo, Jagodnjak, Negoslavci and Šodolovci.

The Joint Council of Municipalities (ZVO) in the formal sense emerged as an sui generis organization, based on Erdut Agreement, an international act that started the process of peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem and Decision reached by Croatian Government on October 15, 1997. Also, Croatian Government ensured the Council’s legislative status in the Letter of the Croatian Government on completing the peaceful reintegration of the areas under transitional administration (Croatian Danube region) issued on January 13, 1997.

The Council’s role as a consulting body is to monitor and analyze the issues of educational and cultural autonomy of the Serb community as well as to safeguard human, civil and ethnic rights of Serbs in accordance with the Croatian constitution, positive laws and internationally acknowledged and legally relevant agreements which determine and regulate the status and position of Serbian community in this region.