Source: http://dalje.com/en-croatia/round-table ... nia/530706

Round table calls for Croat equality in Bosnia

A round table on the survival and prospects of Croats in Republika Srpska (RS), Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) Serb entity, was held in Banja Luka on Friday, with participants calling for joint action by domestic politicians, business people, the Church, Croatia and the international community so that Croats could return to RS and exercise equality throughout BiH.

Banja Luka Bishop Franjo Komarica said the number of Catholic Croats had fallen dramatically in the past century, notably in the 1992-95 war, when they were ethnically cleansed from half of RS and the Croat-Bosniak Federation entity. He said Catholic Croats in BiH had the same fate as

Catholics in Iraq, Syria and Bangladesh, where they continued to be driven out. "It's a disgrace and it's happening in the 21st century."

Komarica said representatives of the international community were responsible for not preventing that, as were Croat representatives, who he said kept quiet about the continued expulsion.

He called for drawing up a joint strategy under the aegis of politicians, business people and the Church so as to make way for sustainable returns.

BiH Presidency member Dragan Covic said the most important thing was to secure Croat equality in the country, including the survival of Croats in RS.

"We must create an atmosphere to make a normal state out of BiH, create an atmosphere of legal certainty with clear indications of what to do in the economy and social protection. We won't succeed if we don't secure the constitutional and all-round equality of the Croat people in BiH. Euro-Atlantic integration must be our commitment and through internal reorganisation we must ensure efficiency," he said.

Council of Ministers Chairman Vjekoslav Bevanda said the other two constituent peoples, Bosniaks and Serbs, "must stop thinking that they are giving us (Croats) something, because we seek what belongs to us and the months ahead will show if we will get what belongs to us."

The international community's High Representative to BiH, Valentin Inzko, called for protecting the rights of the smallest ethnic community in BiH, the Croats, on whom he called to be the most important link for drawing closer to the European Union.

Croats are the smallest of the three brothers and should be paid the most attention, but this smallest brother can act as a go-between between the other two brothers. Croats must be the ones pulling towards Brussels, Inzko said.

Croatian Ambassador to BiH Ivan Del Vechio said "Croats in BiH are important to Croatia's leaders, as shown by this year's visits by both the Croatian prime minister and parliament speaker. It's essential that Croats in RS define priorities. Define priorities and we will back them. Prime Minister Milanovic said so and I'm saying it too."

The participants in the round table announced a strategy on the survival and return of Croats to RS.