Bunjevac Croats present the “Dužijanac” in European Parliament

Representatives from the Croatian minority in Serbia presented the Dužijanac in European Parliament today. The Dužijanac is a traditional ceremony of thanksgiving for the fruits of the harvest practiced by Bunjevac Croats from Subotica in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.

Speaking to reporters after the presentation, the president of the Croatian National Council in Serbia and a member of Croatian Parliament for the diaspora, Jasna Vojnić, noted that the Dužijanac symbolizes much more than just agrarian tradition: "Our Dužijanac is being presented here today in which we can see a small grain of wheat that can truly bring an abundant harvest. And that is what we say Croatians in Serbia are, the salt of the earth for Croatia, but also that little bit that Serbia is missing on its path to the European Union."

Also on hand was the State Secretary of the Central Office for Croats Abroad, Zvonko Milas, who noted that Croatia will continue to uphold its obligation to support the Croatian minority in neighboring Serbia: "We have good interlocutors, we want to support them, because they have been active there and have lived there for centuries. I am extremely happy that the European Union was able to witness the Dužijanac and her arrival in Brussels today."

"Dužijanac is the cultural heritage of the Croatian community in Vojvodina, but it is important that it is also accepted and affirmed as part of the European cultural heritage, which is why it was important that they present it here in the center of Europe in the European Parliament," added Croatian Member of European Parliament, Davor Ivo Stier.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina marked the beginning of the persecution of Croats from the region by Serb fascists. On May 6th 1992, a rally was held in the town of Hrtkovci, at which Serb war criminal Vojislav Šešelj read out the names of seventeen Croats who were publicly ordered to leave their homes or be expelled. 25 Croats were killed by Serbs in Vojvodina in the 1990s, of whom three are still listed as missing, while roughly forty thousand Croats in Vojvodina were forced from their homes.

Source: HRT