INFORM INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ABOUT CROATIA'S LAW ON CEMETERIES

BELGRADE, APRIL 25 /SRNA/ - The Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Policy of Serbia will inform international institutions about the new law on cemeteries in Croatia, which legalizes the discrimination and dehumanization of Serb victims in the crudest way because it provides for the removal of tombstones that allegedly deny the so-called Homeland War.

This ministry expects a strong reaction from the relevant international addresses in order to prevent the application of something that contradicts European practice and all civilizational values of modern society. The Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Policy Milica Đurđević-Stamenkovski pointed out that due to unclear wording, this law allows all memorials in the Cyrillic alphabet to be declared unconstitutional symbols that offend someone's national feelings. She believes that this is an unprecedented act in European and world legislative practice. "This law, which foresees the automatic removal of all monuments on the territory of Croatia that negate the values of the so-called Homeland War and insult the national, religious and moral feelings of Croatian citizens, is a continuation of the policy of disenfranchising the Serb community," Đurđević-Stamenkovski pointed out. She added that Croatia is also bothered by dead Serbs, while it wants to forbid the living to remember their secrifice and pay tribute to compatriots who died during past war conflicts on the territory of Croatia. Đurđević-Stamenkovski noted that behind these legal solutions is a clear political goal of Zagreb to deal with the linguistic and identity characteristics of the Serb people, no matter how morbid that attempt may be. According to her, the Croatian leadership is once again showing that its attitude towards the Serbs is still based on the political and ideological heritage of the so-called Independent State of Croatia. "Zagreb refuses to respect the most basic values of a democratic society and to provide the Serb people with the most basic human and minority rights, which they are entitled to as an internationally recognized minority community in Croatia," said Đurđević-Stamenkovski.