Minority languages of Croatia
The Istro-Romanian language is one of the smallest minority languages spoken in Croatia with fewer than 500 speakers concentrated mainly in the north-eastern part of the Istrian Peninsula. While the language is not officially recognized in the Constitution of Croatia under that name (the Constitution does reference Romanians and Vlachs), it is specifically recognized as such in the Statute of the Istrian Region and in the Statute of the Municipality of Kršan . In 2016, with funding from the Romanian government, the school in the village of Šušnjevica was fully renovated and is expected to start offering education in Istro-Romanian.
Croatia–Italy relations
Although stormy at best when parts of Croatia were under direct Italian control during the second world war, today the relations between the two countries can be described as "very friendly", and both countries wish to improve their relations. Along with sharing a historically strong adherence to the Roman Catholic religion, they have various cultural similarities, with Croatia considered the most "Italian" of all the Slavic countries. Italian is a fairly popular foreign language in Croatia, with 15% of Croatians able to speak it well enough to have a conversation, according to Eurobarometer.