Burgenland Croats Burgenland Croats Burgenland Croats (, , , ) is the name for ethnic Croats in the Austrian state of Burgenland, along with Croats in neighboring Hungary and Slovakia. There are around 320,000 Croats that live in Austria. 87,000 to 130,000 of them are Burgenland Croats. Another 56,785 have Croatian citizenship. Since 1993, Croatian organizations are appointing their representatives to the Council for National Minorities of the Austrian government. Burgenland Croats began to emigrate from Lika, Krbava, Kordun, Banovina, Moslavina and Western Bosnia. These areas were occupied by the Turks in the 16th century during the Turkish wars (1533-1584). The refugee
Burgenland 1990 Burgenland regained its traditional role as a bridge between the western and eastern parts of Central Europe. Cross-border links were strengthened when Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004. All three countries became part of the Schengen zone in late 2007 when border controls finally ceased to exist in the region. Burgenland has notable Croatian (29,000–45,000) and Hungarian (5,000–15,000) populations. The Croats arrived after the devastating Ottoman war in 1532, when the Ottoman army destroyed some settlements in their ethnic territory. The emigration in great haste of the Catholic remained population of western Slavonia into the