Guyon: The number of Serbs in Croatia reduced to the level of a statistical error

Director of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region Arno Guyon spoke today in front of the MPs at the Parliamentary Committee for the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region about the problem of the disappearance of Serbs in Croatia, after the publication of the results of the population census.

He stated that Croatia lost 10 percent of its population, but that the Serbs were reduced to the level of a statistical error of 3.2 percent, that is, to 123,892.

Guyon said that there was still no complete analysis of the census with the reasons that explain such a brutal decline of Serbs in Croatia.

“The mentioned age structure certainly has its share, but anyone who has visited the Serbian people in Croatia knows that there is something else, and that is discrimination, which is carried out in employment, in the impossibility of learning Serbian language and the isolation of Serbian villages, as well as violence. About 300 attacks a year on Serbs in Croatia are recorded, which is three times more than on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Guyon, and communicated the Administration.

He emphasised that Serbian representatives in Croatia should find a way to live and cooperate with Croats, but that this should not lead to assimilation.

Speaking about the total population decline in Croatia, Guyon compared it to the percentage of human losses of defeated Germany after the Second World War or twice as much as the French losses in the First World War.

“The effects of the white plague were multiplied in 2013 with Croatia’s entry into the EU. Were these fatal demographic effects expected and predictable? They were. Did the Croatian state prepare enough to reduce them? Obviously not. Today’s Croatia is a mirror of our demographic of the future if Serbia enters the EU unprepared. This is the responsibility of all of us,” said Guyon.

He added that everyone in the legislative and executive authorities is at the disposal of the Serbs in Croatia for all the help they would need.

“Within the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, we monitor and thoroughly report on the position of Serbs in the region within the framework of bilateral and multilateral mechanisms such as mixed intergovernmental commissions or the Council of Europe. We also finance projects that contribute to the preservation of the Serbian language and identity.” Guyon said.