Merchants, lawyers, bankers, doctors, politicians and other swindlers were the creators of Serbia's modernization, they became part of it, and now it is denying them support to preserve their nation.
Tincars came to Serbia at the end of the 18th century and brought their knowledge, habits and wealth. They were the creators of its modernization in the middle of the 19th century, the elite of the town's population: well-known merchants, lawyers, doctors, professors, bankers, administrators and politicians.
In October of last year, on the occasion of the latest population census in Serbia, Cincars asked their country to recognize them as a minority. It wasn't the first time they asked for it. Serbia rejected them again.
In a letter to the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, signed by the president of the Serbian-Cincar Society "Lunjina" Aristotelis Martinović, they explained that today in Serbia "there are very few members of this nation left who declare themselves as Cincars, and that this almost complete "assimilation of Cincars in Serbia, where they gradually lost their identity, names and surnames, language and all other characteristics" came about because they tried "to fit in as well as possible into a new environment".
According to the 2022 population census, 327 Cincars live in Serbia.
Recognize us as a national minority
In "Lunjina", they believe, however, that "the number of Cincar descendants is many times higher than the number officially stated in the last census" because, due to the aforementioned assimilation, the majority of Cincar declare themselves as Serbs.
They believe that the "absence of state support to recognize the Cincars in Serbia as a national minority" contributed to this, which would "encourage the descendants of the Cincars to declare themselves as members of this nation."
It is understandable that a young man born in a peasant family in the country of Serbia perceives himself as a Serb, and not as a member of a nation that does not have a state, they say in "Lunjina".
In the letter, they remind the Ministry of the rule that "when the number of members of an ethnic group begins to decline alarmingly, the state is obliged to use its instruments to come to the rescue", so the Cincars "kindly request" that "the Republic of Serbia recognize them this time and grant them the status of a national minority , and immediately after that enabled the formation of the National Council of Cincara in Serbia."
You are not representative enough
In an extensive response with many references to laws, the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights explained to the Cincars that they are recognized as a minority, but indirectly, through the co-financing of their programs that preserve the peculiarities that define them as a minority, but that they are "not a sufficiently representative national community in the context of national council elections".
Among others, they referred to the Law on National Councils of National Minorities, according to which a minimum of 300 citizens of legal age is a prerequisite for the formation of a national council.
How to reach the national council
The answer of the Ministry to the inquiry of "Vremena" about the status of Cincar in Serbia was, one could say, more specific.
"First of all, we point out that in the legal order of the Republic of Serbia, there is no regulation that individually lists (recognized) national minorities, nor a special procedure, and therefore no competent authority, which would, within the framework of that special procedure, recognize a group of the population with the status of a national minority", writes at the beginning of the Ministry's answer.
But that is why there is "the concept of national minority defined by the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, which considers any group of citizens of Serbia that "possesses characteristics such as language, culture, national or ethnic affiliation, origin or religion, by which they differ from of the majority of the population", regardless of the number.
The number of minorities is important for the national council, which is dealt with by the Law on National Councils of National Minorities. It prescribes the condition for the formation of the council, the one presented in the answer to the members of "Lunjina": at least 300 members of the national minority of legal age.
Legal entanglements
Đorđe Mara, the lawyer of the Serbian-Cincar Society "Lunjina", tells "Vreme" that "Cincars just want to be recognized, and for that there is no legal limit on the number, so they could recognize them as a minority." There is a limit to the national council, and they are right there. But those two things are not conditioned by each other."
"And that's why we have grounds to try to realize Cincar's right in another way," says lawyer Đorđe Mara.
In the responses of the Ministry to "Vremen" and "Lunjina" it is written that the authorities of the Republic of Serbia "recognize (indirectly) the status of a national minority to the Cincars" by co-financing their programs to which the Cincars express "concern for maintaining a common identity".
The Cincars say that they are not an "intermediate" minority. They say that they are not "indirectly" loyal to Serbia and that they expect it to repay them in the same way.
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