President Milanović in Skopje Meets with Representatives of Croatian Community Living in North Macedonia

During his working visit to the Republic of North Macedonia, where he participated in an unformal meeting of heads of state and government of NATO members from South East Europe, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović met with representatives of Croatian national minority associations in the Republic of North Macedonia.

The meeting with Croatian community representatives was held in the Croatian Embassy in Skopje, and was attended by the acting president of the Community of Croats in Skopje Nenad Živković, the president of the Community of Croats in Tetovo Nediljko Romac, the president of the Croatian Youth Forum in North Macedonia Marko Vidaček, the president of the “Marko Marulić” Macedonian-Croatian Society Branko Maretić and the member of the Council of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for Croats abroad Josip Tunić.

Representatives of the Croatian community in the Republic of North Macedonia acquainted President Milanović with their associations’ activities. Since there is no umbrella organization in North Macedonia that would assemble all the Croatian national minority’s communities and associations, the President was informed of the Croatian Embassy in Skopje’s initiative to establish a Federation of Croatian Associations in North Macedonia, which would be comprised of representatives of all the Croatian community’s associations and organizations that are currently active.

According to the last population census of September 2021, there are 2,145 Croats in North Macedonia or 0.12% of the total population. The majority of them are in Skopje, Bitola and Shtip, and smaller groups live in Kumanovo, Ohrid and Tetovo. They are organized in associations of Croats in Skopje, Tetovo, Shtip, Bitola, Veles with branches in Kumonovo and Ohrid.

In addition to the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of North Macedonia Nives Tiganj at the meeting with representatives of the community and associations of the Croatian national minority were the Head of the Office of the President of the Republic Orsat Miljenić and the Adviser to the President for Foreign and European Policy Neven Pelicarić.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek