The Preservation of the Ethnic Identity of New Minorities in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Political-geographic processes in the former Yugoslavia region have led to the creation of new political-territorial communities. The nationalities of Yugoslavia who have lived in the same country nowadays are living in Diaspora. Thus Montenegrins, Macedonians, and Slovenians in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) from constituents have become new national minorities. The subject of the research is the position of the new minorities in the Republic of Srpska after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. Data on their number and territorial distribution are obtained by analyzing the last census of the population in the Republic of Srpska in 2013. It is also necessary to point to the relationship between the Republic of Srpska and the new minorities, as well as to the relations of the new minorities with their parent states. It is necessary to explore how these minority groups in the Republic of Srpska seek to preserve their ethnic identity and cultural heritage. Studying the Montenegrin, Macedonian and Slovenian associations, the history of their presence, and their association’s programs would reveal ways of preserving ethnic identity and elements of cultural heritage. There is a social, political, and scientific need to address this issue critically, to point to the status of new minorities in the Republic of Srpska, the possibility of their existence as well as the preservation of ethnic identity and elements of cultural heritage.

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