Number of Croats in Sweden
According to Swedish Buerau of Statistics there are around 10.000 Croatian immigrants living in Sweden. However, this figure refers only to the persons who registered Croatia as their country of birth ( in Tax administration which is in charge of Registry). Based on the estimates of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia, Croatian associations and Catholic Missions, around 40.000 Croats and their descendants live in Sweden. Majority of them live in southern cities of Göteborg and Malmö. During the 90s a large number of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina settled in the central Sweden.
Status of Croats in Sweden
There are no specific regulations on the rights and responsibilities of immigrants. Foreign nationals are treated equally as all other citizens of the host country. There are laws which regulate immigration, citizenship, temporary residence, permanent residence and asylum.
Swedish citizenship may be acquired by naturalization, if the person has a permanent residence permit and if he or she has lived at least five years in Sweden, or four years if the person has a refugee status or does not have a citizenship. Swedish Law on Citizenship allows dual citizenship.
The Republic of Croatia and Sweden have closed the Agreement on social security.
Croatian associations and Catholic Missions
There are 24 Croatian associations under the umbrella organization Alliance of Croatian Societies (http://www.kroatiskariksforbundet.org). The Society is based in Göteborg in the premises of the Croatian association “Velebit”. Mrs Diana Vukušić has been its president for many years.
The following associations should be singled out:
Croatian classes and courses of the Croatian language
Croatian classes in Sweden are integrated which means they are financed by local authorities, not the Croatian Ministry. There are no Croatian schools in Sweden, but teachers of Croatian ancestry work as external associates. They are paid for their work by Swedish Government. Seminars for the teachers’ professional development are organized by the Republic of Croatia.
Committeee of teachers of Croatian within the Croatian Allianz is engaged in promotion and protection of the Croatian language within Swedish education system, and in making a clear distinction between the Croatian language and the Serbian and Bosnian language.
At the University of Upsalla, Faculty of languages, there is a study program of the Croatian language (Head of Department is Jussi Nuorluoto, Finnish teacher). Croatian language can be studied online at the University of Göteborg.
Publishing and Media
Association of Croatian societies in Sweden publishes newsletter “Hrvatski Glasnik”.