Croatian-Serbian relations: Political cooperation and national minorities – Golubić 2009

From the 25 until the 28th August 2009 In 2008, an international scientific meeting "Croatian-Serbian relations" was held. political cooperation and national minorities" in Golubić (Obrovac), Croatia. The gathering was organized by the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation.

Croatian - Serbian relations - political cooperation and national minorities

In Golubić, near Obrovac, Republic of Croatia, from 25 until the 28th August 2009 In 2008, an international scientific meeting “Croatian-Serbian relations” was held. political cooperation and national minorities”. Scientists from Croatia and Serbia participated in the meeting.

Scientists have assessed that politics and politicians in the two countries should not interpret the past, but should leave it to scientists.

The opinion of those present is that, in order to strengthen political ties, we should work on a common interpretation of topics from the history of relations between the two countries and peoples, namely:

  • the beginning of the development of Croatian-Serbian political cooperation,
  • relation of the media to the past,
  • the ideology and position of minorities and their party organizations,
  • as well as analysis and revision of history textbooks.

At the meeting, in his introductory speech, the organizer of the meeting and the director of the CHDR, Darko Gavrilović, pointed out that there is no alternative to the coexistence of Serbs and Croats. This is not only because the European Union is a common goal. “Know that culturally, politically and spiritually it is impossible to progress as two peoples who share the same space, and at the same time decide to live next to each other and not with each other. Living together does not mean creating a common state by force and out of mind. Living together means appreciating all the cultural, political and spiritual values ​​that these two peoples have developed and nurtured in their past. It means preserving other people’s values, as one preserves one’s own. It means offering humanity and trust without asking for reciprocity from the other. It is a walk towards the victory of peace.”

The scientists concluded that a great contribution to the improvement of Croatian-Serbian relations would be to find the means and good will to research the history of the break-up of Yugoslavia. Within that, the availability of archival material would be of particular importance. That is why the gathered scientists gave this topic priority. It was emphasized that today one of the biggest problems is the insufficient financial support of the state institutions of both countries for such research.

Meeting of political representatives of Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia under the auspices of CHDR

The scientists welcomed the fact that the political representatives of the Serbs in Croatia, Milorad Pupovac and Vojislav Stanimirović , as well as the political representatives of the Croats in Serbia, Petar Kuntić and Duje Runje , participated in the meeting on the first day.

Prof. Dr. Milorad Pupovac gave a short report on the agreements reached during the meetings:After discussing the political experience of Serbs in Croatia and Croats in Serbia, dr. Vojislav Stanimirović and others. Milorad Pupovac on behalf of SDSS, and Petar Kuntić and Duje Runje on behalf of DSHV agreed on cooperation between their parties and other minority institutions. They expect the governments of the two countries, Croatia and Serbia, to implement an agreement on making available the property at Preradovićeva 21 and 23 Serbian Cultural Society Prosvjeta in Zagreb and Ban Jelačić’s house in Petrovaradin to HNS. Also, they expect the mixed Committee for monitoring the implementation of the agreement on the rights of national minorities to meet as soon as possible. Finally, representatives of SDSS and DSHV, as well as representatives of SNV and HNS, will meet during the fall to agree on other concrete modalities of cooperation in the interest of their communities and their home states. “

The scientists emphasized that the politicization of historical science must not occur. There is still the problem of politicized historians writing desirable history. Scientists pointed out that the presence of politicians at the meeting does not mean the politicization of the meeting in Golubić. In this way, politicians were given a place and the opportunity to cooperate in order to improve the position of national minorities in Serbia and Croatia. Cooperation between scientists and politicians is mandatory if we want the policy of regional stability and reconciliation to be complete. That is, to permeate through it the positive aspects of both science and politics.

The gathering was organized by the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation from the Netherlands and the Novi Sad Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation .

The organization was supported by: the Association for the Promotion of Scientific Dialogue from Zagreb, the city of Novi Sad, the city of Obrovac, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia , the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region of the Republic of Serbia , the Serbian People’s Council from Croatia and The Balkan Trust for democracy.

Scientific papers from the meeting "Croatia - Serbian relations - political cooperation and national minorities" in PDF format:

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