“The Croatian people are very direct. Even more so than Germans”
For the last eight years, TEA VIDOVIĆ has been an intercultural expert at Croatia’s Centre for Peace Studies, a member of Welcomm, a consortium of NGOS from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and Italy. Its aim is a better and fairer integration of refugees and migrants into EU countries. Vidović studied sociology, spent an exchange year studying in Erfurt, Germany, and has taught Croatian to asylum seekers.
Who are the people you are trying to help to integrate?
We are mostly focused on supporting asylum seekers and refugees, because they are a group of people who do not have the social and financial capital when they come to a new society.
How do you help the integration of refugees?
We have provided education for the past 20 years. Together with our volunteers, we create many kinds of activities, such as language courses and workshops on Croatian society, on interculturalism. We create space for the locals and the newcomers to spend time together. The newcomers can also teach us and confront us with our prejudices. It’s very important not to try to show that we are above them because we are “old members” of Croatian society. We are on the same level. The Centre for Peace Studies has supported different initiatives, such as a migrant choir that includes people from different countries who are living in Croatia. There are Croatian songs, Serbian, Armenian, Arabic songs from Afghanistan. It is open to everybody.
Does it help that Yugoslavia had lots of nationalities and religions?
When I talk to my parents, they always remember that they had students coming from Syria, Algeria and Middle Eastern countries. And that Yugoslavian society was really multicultural. But that changed with the Croatian War of Independence of 1991–95. I was born in 1986 and there was always this clash between Croats and Serbs. When we talk about integration, our politicians always say Croatia cannot deal with it. But we had experience of war, with a lot of refugees from neighbouring countries. Yes, it was different because they were more familiar with the culture, so the process of integration was different. But this doesn’t mean that Croatia cannot do the same now.
How would you characterize Croatians? What do you tell newly arrived immigrants?
The Croatian people are very direct, even more so than Germans. The entire region here is quite direct and quite emotional. If you walk around Zagreb, you’ll see lots of people in cafes talking, drinking coffee, spending time together. There is an atmosphere of enjoying yourself after work, hanging out with friends, especially in the summertime. And because Croatia is on the Adriatic coast, people tend to spend one or two months at the seaside, plus many weekends. This connection with the sea is important for Croatians. Food is also important, and it varies, depending on the region where you are. In the north, there is more meat, and in the south and at the seaside, there is more seafood and Mediterranean cuisine. Nowadays, you are also starting to see restaurants from different cultures opening up, such as African restaurants.