Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman 16 November 2019 attended the marking of the 19th Croats Day in Baja, Hungary. The ceremony opened with a mass at the church of St. Anthony of Padua and continued with a programme, where Grlić Radman underlined the well-known fact that Croats and Hungarians are linked by a shared past and a European present, and that Croats are a recognised national minority in Hungary.
“The contribution of Hungarian Croats to the preservation of Croatian language, customs and cultural heritage is visible at many levels, and Croatia will continue to support them”, the minister said.
He underlined that the government was investing a lot of effort to unite Croats at home and abroad. “All that has been achieved so far and the special ties with Croats outside the homeland oblige us to continue to encourage development, to adapt and implement the necessary reforms, to acquire new knowledge, standards and values so that we can ensure further progress and build better lives for future generations on both sides of the border.”
Grlić Radman thanked everyone who has cultivated the Croatian language, tradition, culture and customs in Hungary for centuries, adding: “Let’s look to the future, remembering our proud past where we connected through faith, family, culture and tradition, which has kept us together throughout history and preserved the Croatian people. Let that be our roadmap in times ahead!”
The minister attended the event as an envoy of the Croatian president, parliament speaker and prime minister.