The Tuzla City Council has a Commission for the Protection of National Minority Rights, which in its composition in the 2024-2028 convocation, as in all previous years, does not have representatives of national minorities, except for Roma. Sometimes a member is "inserted" who declares himself a member of a national minority, but in reality formally fills the Commission in order to justify the presence of other national minorities besides Roma. The Commission has been the subject of years of criticism directed by non-Roma associations of national minorities in Tuzla - Albanians, Italians, Jews, Macedonians and Slovenes, among other things, that the Commission does not fulfill the basic reasons for its formation and does not support and protect the rights of all national minorities in Tuzla. On the other hand, trying to justify its existence, the Commission calls for meetings of national minority associations in Tuzla with proposals for "cooperation". The last letter came on 6.10.2025., and the president of the UGIP "Rino Zandonai" Tuzla responded to the Commission with a letter dated 19.10.2025:
Commission for the Protection of the Rights of National Minorities - City of Tuzla
To all members of the committee – deliver a printed version
The Commission, for the second time in a short period of time, is sending an invitation to the Italian Association "Rino Zandonai" Tuzla for a joint meeting at which joint activities of the Association and the Commission would be planned. As a person representing the Association, I ask that in the future you do not send any letters signed by Nedžad Jusić, or any other member of the Commission. I wrote earlier that you spend budget money on paper, toner and postage, and among others, the Italian Association contributes to the city budget by paying taxes, including paying my personal taxes. I consider it irresponsible to spend budget money on unnecessary administration, if you are already spending the budget money that you receive as members of the Commission.
You, the members of the commission, are fulfilling the formality of existence, and you are not contributing anything to the betterment of the Italian and other national minorities in Tuzla, except for the Roma. And this is the practice of the commission that has been going on for years. You have not carried out a single activity that would benefit members of non-Roma minorities. The president of the commission was informed in writing a long time ago, as were the members of the commission, that the non-Roma associations of Tuzla DO NOT TRUST Jusić either as a person or as someone who should equally protect the rights of all national minorities (at least that is what is written in the description of the duties of a city councilor). I realize that the other members of the commission have not taken any action to change the situation so far. The Association of Italians implements at least 10 activities per year, and these activities are financed by grants from all levels of government in BiH. These funds are obtained exclusively through the efforts of the association, and these funds are also returned to the City of Tuzla because the project budget is spent in Tuzla, the activities are implemented for the citizens of Tuzla and have no commercial character - there is no profit. Every year we bring dozens of tourists from abroad to Tuzla, we organize visits of the diplomatic corps to the City of Tuzla, and in other ways we contribute to the community and the City of Tuzla to maintain its acquired reputation as a multicultural and multinational city, and for Tuzla to be recognized outside of BiH. All of you in the commission know what the Italian Association does (if you follow the media at all), so you have never had the time or the will to come to any of the activities, or even to the celebration of important dates. Maybe you are waiting for an invitation – you will never receive an invitation. You are no better or more important than other citizens of Tuzla who come to activities without an invitation.
I reproach the commission for the fact that in all the mandates in which Jusić is also a representative of national minorities in the City Council, the agenda item on the position of members of non-Roma national minorities in Tuzla has never been considered. Five associations of national minorities (Albanians, Italians, Jews, Macedonians and Slovenes) have requested in WRITING several times that the agenda item on the position of minorities be considered by the Council, and that the rapporteur be a representative of national minorities, and not that the competent service or another institution do this (and not by chance Jusić). This initiative was never accepted, probably because Jusić does not like it because it would be questionable what influence he has on the selection of members of the commission for the protection of minority rights (he himself claimed that he decides who will be on the commission), why there is no minority-national balance in the commission, why he formally "takes" members who are treated as members of a national minority and are not recognized at all in the associations or communities they are supposed to represent (this is called the placement of suitable members so that the commission would formally have representation of non-Roma national minorities, or is it a matter of compensation for services), why are the people on the commission who have an interest and connection with Eurorom sitting, how is it that the Roma Cultural Center "enters" the City budget after a year of existence (while the associations of Italians and Slovenians have been operating for more than 30 years), what kind of private connection does Jusić have with the Roma Cultural Center, is there a conflict of interest when Eurorom receives grants from the City, how many activities are carried out by Roma associations in Tuzla, why are there no announcements in the media about what Roma associations are doing (there are exceptions - up to 10 announcements per year for all Roma associations, and that's less than the number of posts by an association of Italians, not to mention Slovenians, Macedonians and Albanians), why doesn't it help solve the lack of space for work and activities of associations that don't have space, and the like.
Now that the members of the commission know why the Italian association reacted negatively to the invitation for cooperation, you have the opportunity to ask Jusić the same questions that I am asking. Ask and respond, and in this way you will show that you are working in the interests of all national minorities in Tuzla. After all, the commission's task and obligation is to protect all national minorities (at least that is what the name of the commission says), and not just the Roma as it is currently. Personally, I do not expect you to take any action to change the situation - it is necessary to preserve the current balance of positions and opposition in the City Council, and this balance depends to a large extent on whether Councilor Jusić's hand is raised or not.
I suggest that the commission continue as it has been working so far and take care of the status of the Roma national minority, and not send invitations to meetings to the "Rino Zandonai" association in Tuzla.
President of the Association
Tihomir Knežiček
Tuzla, 19.10.2025.