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Internet platform for studying Xenophobia, Radicalism and Problems of Intercultural communication.

Recommendations

Recommendations

Despite the decline in the overall degree of hate speech in Croatia, there is an increase of xenophobia towards the Serb and Roma minorities, and also persecution of the anti-fascist veterans who fought during the Second World War against the Ustasha neo-Nazis. These facts are phenomena of a general nature, characteristic to many of new Eastern European states which were came to be in the 1990s.

This trend is not new for the Republic of Croatia, however, on the eve of joining the EU in 2013, the authorities have done everything to minimize any manifestations of nationalism. Presently, after this goal has been achieved, the ruling circles are beginning to return to the old methods of winning votes – borrowing populist slogans from nationalists.

On the one hand, this method allows not only to get new votes, but also to weaken the influence of national radicals, which, in fact, is happening today in Croatia. On the other hand, the ruling circles themselves are gradually sliding down to nationalism, which increases the risks to public security.

  1. General recommendations for the accession to international agreements and conventions.

To overcome the problems of national minorities in the provision of Croatian citizenship compared with ethnic Croats, it is recommended to join the European Convention on Nationality, which contains the common European standards in this regard.

With Croatia’s accession to the European Union, as well as taking into account the possible occurrence of labour migration in the country, it is recommended to the Republic to join the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which is a universal document protecting the rights of this social group.

Given that the country foresees no liability for the denial of war crimes, including the denial of the Holocaust, which creates prerequisites for whitewashing and the glorification of Nazi past, it would be useful for Croatia to support the UN General.

Assembly resolution A / RES / 67/154 “Glorification of Nazism: the inadmissibility of certain practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” and similar resolutions against neo-Nazism, which are considered in the UN every year. The resolution is directed against the glorification of Nazism and revision of the post-war realities and also corresponds to the General Comments №34 to Article 19 on International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

    2. General recommendations for adjustments to the legal framework.

Croatia should review its legislation on citizenship in the direction of ensuring equal opportunities for immigrants belonging to the titular nation and national minorities, as well as to simplify the language test for applicants.

In the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Criminal Code, a provision should be added stating that discrimination based on nationality should be treated as an aggravating circumstance when crimes are committed. In addition, the Criminal Code should include the deleted grounds for prosecution for discrimination.

It is also important to introduce a provision in Article 328 of the Criminal Code, which would criminalise the establishment of criminal groups with the aim of promoting racial discrimination.

It is important to change Article 5 of the Constitutional Law on National Minorities, which currently only counts citizens as ethnic minorities. Croatia should also adopt a law regarding liability for the denial of war crimes, including the denial of Holocaust.

    3. General recommendations for the executive bodies in the field of enforcement of law and human rights.

Preventive work with local population on combating anti-ethnic hatred and preventing hate crimes needs to be strengthened. In addition, it is important to develop a system of training for law enforcement officials to promptly identify and respond to hate crimes.

The system to counter latent discrimination against national minorities in education and employment should be worked on in order to increase their representation in the civil service and the private sector.

Local authorities have to take the necessary steps towards the legalisation of Roma settlements and integration of the Roma themselves.

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