Condemnation of the statement of the mayor of Subotica, Stevan Bakić

The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue strongly condemned inappropriate and tendentious statements of the mayor of Subotica, Stevan Bakić presented at the "Banijsko Prelo" demonstration in Subotica on January 25, which endangers the members Croatian national minorities in Serbia and create additional tensions in society.

At that event, Bakić, who is also an official of the Serbian Progressive Party, said that "the Ustasha will not overthrow our Serbia."

"Any incitement of inter-ethnic tensions, intolerance and discrimination on the basis of national affiliation is a form of hate speech, which is especially unacceptable when uttered by public office holders," it was announced.

It was pointed out that public office holders should do the exact opposite, to condemn this type of speech and to encourage the spirit of tolerance, mutual understanding and cooperation among all citizens of Serbia.

The press release warns that such statements undermine inter-ethnic relations and make it difficult to build and establish good-neighborly relations between Serbia and Croatia.

The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue called on all officials and the media to refrain from presenting negative and tendentious allegations and unverified information, and the competent institutions to react and act in accordance with the regulations.

Source: FoNet