Summary:
CROATIA. Vjesnik reports that according to unofficial sources, changes to the election law will raise the number of minority representatives in parliament from five to ten or even eleven.

According to the 1995 election law, eight minority representatives were elected to parliament: three for Serbs; one each for Italians and Hungarians; one for Czechs and Slovaks together; and just one for the Germans, Austrians, Ukrainians and Rusyns.

By the January 2000 elections, the number was down to five: one each for the Serbs, Italians and Hungarians; one for the Czechs and Slovaks; and one for the Germans, Austrians, Jews, Ukrainians and Rusyns.

According to the as-of-yet still unofficial plan, Serbs will once again have three representatives. Bosnians will be introduced with two, and Slovenes with one. The Italians and Hungarians will continue to have one representative, as will the Czechs and Slovaks together. The tenth will represent the Germans, Austrians, Ukrainians and Jews.

Vjesnik did not include the Rusyns in its report; it is unclear whether this indicates that the Rusyn community has been stricken from Croatia’s list of official national minorities.

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