Minority rep in Croatian parliament promises support for Slovenians

Armin Hodžić, who is a member of the Bosniak minority in Croatia, has also been representing the Slovenian, Albanian, Montenegrin and Macedonian ethnic minorities in the Croatian parliament since the April general election.

He has so far met with several representatives of the Slovenian community in Croatia, including Slovenian Ambassador to Croatia Gašper Dovžan, the head of the Slovenian Home Zagreb association, a member of the government council for ethnic minorities and the head of the council of Slovenian minority in the city of Zagreb, Darko Šonec.

Hodžić has told the STA that the talks focused on future cooperation with associations in Croatia, introduction of Slovenian language classes in secondary and primary schools, and the purchase of premises in Masarykova Street for the Slovenian Home Zagreb association.

The association has been trying to buy the premises for years without success. "I don't know why this matter has not been resolved in all these years, but I believe there is a rational reason," said Hodžić.

While he has not examined the exact reasons for the delay, he noted that this topic was included in the operational government programme for ethnic minorities for the 2024-2028 period at his own initiative.

The programme says that the Croatian government will consider buying or donating the premises to the association.

Regarding the introduction of Slovenian language classes, Hodžić promised all possible support, saying that sufficient funds have been secured for this purpose. However, this will also depend on the actual interest for such classes "on the ground".

Slovenians were previously represented for two terms by Kosovo-born Albanian Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj, with whom the minority practically did not cooperate, according to representatives of the Slovenian community who confided this unofficially to the STA.

Hodžić noted that there was no cooperation in the past with the Bosniak minority, from which he himself hails, either, and added that his point of view is different. "My approach to all minorities is exactly the same."

However, he admitted his awareness that "neither I nor anyone else simply cannot expect that a person who comes from a certain ethnic minority will have the same preference for all minorities."

Hodžić noted that, unfortunately, this is the "trap and flaw" of the system under which all five minorities are represented by a single MP in the Croatian parliament.

There have been changes since he became an MP, though, as he insisted that all ethnic minorities are explicitly mentioned in the operational programme for ethnic minorities.

Hodžić assessed that tangible and good cooperation to the satisfaction of the Slovenian minority could be established in the future, promising that the approach is something that will definitely be changed, if nothing else.

"I want to help, I want to be the voice of all minorities in the Sabor. What I need is two-way communication - for the Slovenian minority to articulate to me very clearly what its problems are and what potential solutions are," he said.

Under the Croatian law, Albanians and Bosniaks, and the smaller communities of Slovenians, Macedonians and Montenegrins, elect a shared MP. But due to their size, the representatives elected always come from the Albanian or Bosniak communities.

"The fact is that this system is unfair to smaller minorities who do not get the opportunity to get their representative elected," he admitted.

At the same time, he believes that the system is particularly unfair to Bosniaks and Albanians, who share the MP in the Croatian parliament. These are strategically important minorities and this issue should be made more relevant, he added.

Nevertheless, Hodžić believes that the Croatian government has much understanding for ethnic minorities, and he describes the recent period in this respect as an "infrastructural renaissance".

During the latest census in Croatia in 2021, 7,729 residents declared themselves as Slovenians, while the data from October 2023 provided by the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad shows that an additional 18,660 Slovenian citizens live in Croatia, of whom 17,434 have a registered permanent residence.