First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić met on the side lines of the OSCE Ministerial Council with Astrid Thors, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities.
The two officials talked about bilingual plaques in Vukovar, the recent marriage referendum and the announced anti-Cyrillic referendum.
The minister reiterated that the government was adamant in implementing the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in accordance with the European standards and Croatian law. By doing that we are protecting our citizens, members of national minorities, Pusić said, adding that by signing the Accession Treaty and joining the EU we had assumed the responsibility to intensify the implementation of the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities. In regard to the marriage referendum, the minister underlined that 35 per cent of voters had recognized the liberal idea and importance of freedom, responding to a seemingly benign and neutral issue with “no, we advocate freedom, not discrimination”. Pusić said Croatia was entering a time in which we would work on the issues of freedom and combating all forms of discrimination.