State Secretary Maja Vrtarić handed contracts to attendees of Croatian Language Course, designed for Croats living abroad

In her speech, State Secretary Vrtarić thanked the attendees for their interest in learning the Croatian language and their wish to renew or strengthen the ties with their ancestors’ homeland. She also expressed her conviction that with their knowledge, patriotism and professionalism, the attendees would surely contribute to the reconstruction and further development of Croatia and be its best ambassadors in the world. Pointing out that the Ministry wishes to build bridges together with Croatia’s expats between Croatia and the countries they live in, she expressed hope that the experience of learning Croatian would provide the attendees a lasting inspiration and a strong tie with their homeland.

Today saw the handing of 33 contracts for this year’s winter semester of the Croatian Language Course in Zagreb. The course is attended by students from Croatian-expat countries from all over the world, and is being held at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zagreb, under the title “Croaticum”, and at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Split, under the title “Croatica”.

For the 2009/2010 academic year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration has allotted 108 fees, with an overall of 376 fees in the last three years.