Yet reality seems a bit different. Bilingualism has been recently introduced in Croatia by a national law according to EU guidelines which impose bilingualism in case that a minority ethnic group reaches at least the 33% on population grand total, in order to protect minority’s rights: an historic turning point in social, political and cultural inclusion’s name. However, the norm at issue did not provide its hoped effects yet. It has, on the contrary, instigated Vukovar’s citizens’ protest, since Vukovar is considered an icon of Croats struggle against the Serb minority and the Serb army sent there by Sarajevo. Obeying to the new state low, Vukovar’s municipality placed and inaugurated three bilingual plaques, written in Latin alphabet for the Croats and in Cyrillic for the Serbs, set in front of three different public buildings. Revolt burst immediately: veterans, nationalists and common citizens mindful of civil war pain removed the plaques in few hours and angrily manifested against public authorities crosswise the whole city. 

What happened is likely to raise some sort of concern. History has already demonstrated to the world how dangerous interethnic rivalry and hate can be; and if current protests leaded to a Croat nationalist revival, civil war memories could perilously put to the test an already fragile socio-political stability. 

© All right reserved