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Citizenship Reform – 1998

The GoC announces almost three years after the Erdut Basic Agreement that a new law would be passed to make it less difficult for Serb refugees to get new citizenship documents. According to the foreign ministry spokesperson (Trkanjec), “This document is an important step forward in the return process. The biggest change is that people will be able to get the necessary documents for return from Croatian embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions”. The story goes on to say that after applying for new documents, the refugees can “visit” their homes while they wait for their official documents to be processed.¹ Serbian associations protest the elections in Croatia in which hundreds of thousands of Serb returnees are denied the right to vote based on their outdated citizenship documents. The Serbian group issued a statement that condemns the Croatian government for evicting Serbs from the towns and areas where they have lived for centuries and preventing them from returning by “denying their right to identification documents.”²

1. “Croatia adopts document to aid return of Serb refugees,” Agence france presse, March 31, 1998.
2. “Croatian Serb refugees protest against denial of voting rights,” BBC Summary of World Broadcast, September 12, 1998.