Societal security in Vukovar : croatian-serbian relations and bilingual signs

Međuetnički odnosi Hrvata i Srba u Vukovaru višestruko su narušeni zbog Domovinskog rata i srpske okupacije grada. Unatoč mirnoj reintegraciji Podunavlja hrvatsko-srpski odnosi nisu uspješno obnovljeni i Vukovar je danas etnički heterogen i socijalno polariziran grad. Napetoj atmosferi pridonose i nacionalistički narativi obiju strana koji potenciraju konstrukciju vlastitog kulturalnog identiteta naglašavanjem razlika spram druge etničke skupine. Takav je društveni kontekst dočekao 2013. godinu kada je Vlada RH na javne ustanove u Vukovaru postavila dvojezične natpise na hrvatskom jeziku i latinici te srpskom jeziku i ćirilici. Naime, prema Popisu stanovništva iz 2011. godine srpska nacionalna manjina čini više od jedne trećine stanovništva u Vukovaru, čime je ispunjen uvjet za ravnopravnu službenu uporabu manjinskog jezika i pisma temeljem članka 12. Ustavnog zakona o pravima nacionalnih manjina. Međutim, natpisi su ubrzo nasilno uklonjeni kao pokušaj opstruiranja uvođenja srpskog jezika i ćiriličnog pisma u javnu uporabu. Sljedećih nekoliko godina Gradsko vijeće Grada Vukovara sustavno je ignoriralo službene odluke Ustavnog suda RH kojima se potiče vukovarsku vlast da riješi pitanje manjinskih jezičnih prava u gradu, a situacija ni 2021. nije okončana. Desno orijentiranim hrvatskim strankama i braniteljskim udrugama ćirilica simbolizira ratna stradanja te ju stoga percipiraju kao prijetnju nacionalnom identitetu i ugrožavanje socijetalne sigurnosti. Srpska nacionalna manjina, s druge strane, smatra da joj se sabotira izražavanje jezično-kulturnog identiteta i zatiru manjinska prava zajamčena zakonom. Prema tome, ovoj je društvenoj skupini socijetalna sigurnost također ugrožena, a mjere i protumjere dviju strana mogu se tumačiti kroz koncept sigurnosne dileme. Konačno, analiza hrvatsko-srpskih odnosa u Vukovaru indikativan je primjer sukoba koji se transformirao iz vojnog ratovanja u simboličku borbu koja još traje.Interethnic relations between Croats and Serbs in Vukovar are severely impaired due to the Homeland War and Serbian control of the city. Despite the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region, Croatian-Serbian relations have not been successfully restored and today Vukovar is an ethnically heterogeneous and socially polarized city. Both sides perpetuate nationalist narratives and construct their own cultural identity by emphasizing the differences between the self and the other ethnic group, thus contributing to the tense atmosphere in the city. Such was the social context in 2013 when the Croatian Government displayed bilingual signs written both in the Croatian language and Latin script and the Serbian language and Cyrillic script on public buildings in Vukovar. According to the 2011 Census, the Serbian national minority accounts for more than one-third of the population in Vukovar, which meets the criterion for equality in the official use of a minority language and script, pursuant to Article 12 of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities. However, the signs were soon destroyed as an attempt to obstruct the introduction of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script into public use. For the following few years, the Vukovar City Council systematically disregarded the official decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia which urged the city authorities to address the issue of the minority language rights, but as of 2021, the situation has not been resolved. To Croatian right-wing parties and veterans’ associations, Cyrillic symbolizes war-related trauma, so they perceive it as a threat to their national identity and, consequently, societal security. The Serbian national minority, on the other hand, believe that their linguistic and cultural identity is sabotaged and that the minority rights guaranteed by law are undermined. Therefore, the societal security of this group is also threatened, and all the measures and countermeasures of both sides can be interpreted through the concept of security dilemma. Finally, the analysis of the Croatian-Serbian relations is also an example of the conflict that has transformed from military warfare into symbolic fighting that is still in progress