Croats in Vojvodina concerned over ultra-nationalism in Serbia

Vojvodina Croatians are concerned over the situation in Serbia after the convicted war criminal Vojislav Šešelj and his supporters once again issued threats against Croatia and the Croat minority in Serbia.

Yesterday Šešelj tried to hold a rally in the village of Hrtkovci in Vojvodina, in spite the police banning the event. The police stopped the group’s march toward the village, after which they relocated to the nearby village of Jarak and proceeded to hold their rally, which was replete with the xenophobic and warmongering rhetoric for which Šešelj has become synonymous with.

Following Monday’s rally the President of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, Tomislav Žigmanov, said that he was glad that Šešelj’s performance was over and thankful that it had ended peacefully.

"The police did their job, but everything that followed and surrounded the event, the context, its genesis and future repercussions, looms large over Croats in Vojvodina. A convicted war criminal is active as a political leader and openly claims that the crimes against Croats in Vojvodina in the 1990’s never happened," Žigmanov said.

Commenting on Monday’s events historian Tvrtko Jakovina said that it is not good that everything regarding Serbian ultra-nationalism has been reduced to Šešelj alone. “Perhaps the much greater problem is that these ideas exist in the mainstream of Serbian politics," Jakovina said.

Šešelj held a similar rally in Hrtkovci in 1992, which was followed by the forced expulsion of Croats from the area by his supporters and political associates, including members of the Serbian Chetnik Movement.

Originally a majority Croat village, which according to 1991 census was comprised of 2684 people, 40.24% Croats, 20.49% Serbs, 19.19% Hungarians and 16.58% Yugoslavs, Croats were forced from their homes following Šešelj’s 1992 inflammatory speech. A 2002 census showed the new ethnic composition of the village, 69.90% Serbs, 9.04% Hungarians, 7.47% Croats and 1.96% Yugoslavs. In 1992 Serbian authorities even changed the name of the village to Srbislavci (Serb Slavs), it was changed back to Hrtkovci in 1995.

Source: HRT