page_title: Anti-Cyrillic protests in Croatia
section_title: 2013
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-Cyrillic protests in Croatia / Chronology / 2013
caption_attribution_description: English: Broken bilingual Croatian-Serbia plate at the Elementary School Nikola Tesla in Mirkovci
context_page_description: The Anti-Cyrillic protests in Croatia were a series of protests in late 2013 against the application of bilingualism in Vukovar, whereby Serbian and the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet were assigned co-official status due to the local minority population. The implementation of this decision became mandatory after the 2011 Croatian census, according to which Serbs in Vukovar comprise more than one-third of Vukovar's total population. Signs in the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet had been put up as the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities mandates bilingual signs in any area where more than one-third of the population belongs to an ethnic minority. This decision became subject of intense agitation by, among others, Croatian war veterans and many ordinary citizens who believe that due to events, particularly the Battle of Vukovar, the city should have been excluded from the application of the law on minority rights, although protests and vandalism have occurred in other towns and cities. The Serbs of Croatia are a minority group that have the narrowest usage of right to bilingualism among all national minorities in Croatia.
context_section_description: 20 December: Destroyed bilingual signs in Vukovar and on Elementary School in Mirkovci.
  16 December: HQs for defense of Croatian Vukovar submitted signatures for referendum.
  13 December: Bilingual signs graffitied in Vukovar.
  7 December: MP Milorad Pupovac received death threats.
  2 December: Threatening messages sent to Director of Jasenovac concentration camp memorial area.
  21 November: Ministry of Public Administration suspended provisions of town statutes that limits usage of minority language.
  19 November: neo-Nazi salute ("Za dom") at the Croatia-Iceland football game.
  19 November: FIFA delegate requested removal of banner Zapamtite Vukovar (English: Remember Vukovar) from Stadion Maksimir before the Croatia-Iceland football match.
  19 November: Bilingual sign removed from the Trpinja municipality building; flag of Serbs of Croatia stolen.
  18 November: State delegation led by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and President Ivo Josipović blocked from participating in fall of Vukovar "memory walk" by HQs for defense of Croatian Vukovar.
  18 November: President of Serb National Council Milorad Pupovac for the first time participated in "memory walk" which commemorates the Battle of Vukovar. The event was attended by Veljko Džakula, president of Serb Democratic Forum.
  17 November: Bilingual signage stolen in Osijek for the third time.
  17 November: HQs for defense of Croatian Vukovar began collecting signatures for referendum for limitation of rights on usage of minority languages.
  12 November: Table on Serb National Council building in Osijek painted.
  9 November: Two men (both 18 years old) damage a sign on the Consulate General of Serbia in Rijeka.
  6 November: Graffiti ("Serbian family tree") with a picture of lynched people appeared on Ban Jelačić Square.
  5 November: Bilingual memorial plaque for Macedonian writer Andrej Petkovic in Rijeka is damaged.
  5 November: "Serbs out" graffiti written in Vukovar.
  4 November: Minister of Veterans Predrag Matić stated in Večernji list that the Serbs of Croatia are not loyal to Croatia.
  4 November: City Council adopted a new statute of Vukovar and prohibited usage of Cyrillic.
  3 November: Bilingual sign of the Serb National Council building in Varaždin is damaged.
  2 November: Bilingual sign removed from the Serb National Council building in Osijek for the second time.
  25 October: Removed bilingual sign from Serb National Council building in Osijek.
  22 October: Removed bilingual signs from Employment Service buildings in Vukovar.
  19 October: Removed bilingual signs from State Administration buildings in Vukovar.
  12 October: Removed bilingual sign from Vojnić municipality building.
  12 October: Removed bilingual sign from Biskupija municipality building.
  11 October: Three bilingual signs destroyed at the Udbina municipality building.
  8 October: An unknown offender removed bilingual sign from Prosvjeta building in Zagreb. Five policemen were suspended for not intervened and one got fired for breaking the sign in Vukovar.
  7 October: A group of Croatian war veterans removed bilingual signs from three buildings in Vukovar.
  23 September: The president of the Coordination of Associations of Croat Returnees sprayed Cyrillic inscription on Pension insurance building in Vukovar.
  16 September: An unknown offender removed bilingual sign from Krnjak municipality building.
  12 September: Members of the HQs for Defense of Croatian Vukovar broke a bilingual sign at Vukovar's police station and clashed with the police. Darko Pajtić was fatally wounded by the policeman Saša Sabadoš, who was later convicted of his death.
  13 September: Monument for Serb victims from war destroyed in Golubić.
  6 September: During the football match between Serbia and Croatia Serbian fans displayed banner with "Vukovar" written in Cyrillic, burned the Croatian flag and shouted "Kill Ustashe", 'Vukovar is ours" and "Serbia - Chetniks". They also chanted „Oy Ustashe deep river awaits you, slaughter the men, rape the women“.
  5 September: Local HQs for defense of Croatian Vukovar established in Slunj; around 100 protesters gathered
caption: Broken bilingual sign of the Elementary School Nikola Tesla in Mirkovci
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