Serbian National Council - National Coordination Council of the Serbian National Minority in the Republic of Croatia | |
Abbreviation | SNV |
---|---|
Predecessor | Union of Serbian Organizations |
Formation | 1997[1] |
Type | Umbrella organization |
Legal status | Elected political, advisory, and coordinating umbrella organization |
Purpose | Protection of interests of and rights of Serbs in Croatia |
Headquarters | Gajeva 7, Donji grad, Zagreb |
Region served | Croatia |
Membership | Prosvjeta Serb Democratic Forum Serbian Community of Rijeka Serbian Community of Istria Joint Council of Municipalities Independent Democratic Serb Party Baranja Democratic Forum Association of Serbian Refugees and Expellees from Croatia Some of parishes of Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia MPs and prominent individuals |
Official language | Croatian Serbian |
President | Vacant |
Secretary | Branko Jurišić |
Website | snv.hr |
The Serb National Council (Serbo-Croatian: Српско народно вијеће, Srpsko narodno vijeće) is an elected political, consulting and coordinating body which acts as a form of self-government and autonomous cultural institution of the Serbs of Croatia in matters regarding civil rights and cultural identity.[2][3] The council's main focuses are human, civil and national rights, as well the issues of Serbs of Croatia identity, participation and integration in the Croatian society.[3] Since 2000 the council is a member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities.[4]
The body was established as the national coordination of Serb community in Croatia in 1997, in the aftermath of the Croatian War of Independence and defeat of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. The legal basis for its establishment was extracted from the international Erdut Agreement signed in 1995 which ended the conflict in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia by granting rights on cultural autonomy in exchange for peaceful reintegration. Serb National Council network consists of 94 regional and local (municipal or town) councils with the total of 1581 councilors.[5] They are elected every four years at the National Minorities Councils and Representatives Elections with the most recent one being organized in 2019.