(By Radenko Udovičić)

On 02 and 03 December a round table on minority rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, FR Yugoslavia and Croatia was held in Neum. It was another one in a series of expert seminars organised by Sarajevo Minority Rights Centre, Dalmatian Solidarity Committee from Split and Local Democracy Agency from Subotica. The very sites where organisers are originally based suggest that the project is regional in nature which strives for improvement of minority rights through experience exchange and recommendation of remedies as minority rights in these three countries, which share a number of common denominators, are not at an impressive level.
 
 

(By Mladen Obrenović)

If anyone thinks that the "new minorities" who arose in Croatia following the breakup of former Yugoslavia have the biggest problems, the Croatian Germans and Austrians, who received the status of "minority" only after 1990, will be quick to undeceive them, asserting that their burden is in no way lighter. On the contrary, they stress that despite the fact that a systematic framework exists for the defence and development minority rights, their status in practice depends more on the will of individuals than on strict enforcement of established national policies.
 
 

(By Branko Galić)

Advisor for National Minority Education in the Republic of Croatia under the Ministry of Education and Sport Jadranka Huljiev speaks about the law passed six months ago regarding the upbringing and education of national minorities. She stresses that finances pose the biggest obstacle to the law's application. The segregation of Roma children in Croatian schools is a difficult topic for her, but she recognizes that the separation exists as a result of these children's weak educational foundation, their unsatisfactory knowledge of the language, and poor working habits.
 
 

(By Miroljub Radojković)

In the spirit of European principles, it is a duty of public broadcasters to translate the state's obligation into practice by ensuring that programming as well as dissemination and access to information are available to minorities in their respective native languages. State cannot exempt itself from this obligation irrespective of whether any other broadcasters owned by members of minority or broadcasters broadcasiting a certain share of programmes in minority languages emerge.