The Croatian Ethnic Institute was founded by the Croatian Franciscans in 1975 and incorporated as an educational and scientific corporation in 1977. The purposes of the CEI are to establish and maintain a central collection on Croats and their descendents in the United States, Canada, and other countries to which Croats have immigrated, to collect and preserve books, periodicals and magazines, manuscripts and artifacts relating to the heritage of some 2.5 million people of Croatian descent in North America, to develop, produce, and promote materials useful for the study of the Croatian language and heritage, and to encourage and conduct research on the sociological, demographic, religious, and political aspects of Croatian and other migrations and their impact on the way of life in the countries to which they have migrated.
Deputies Zubovic, Matusic and Croatian Ambassador to the United States Neven Jurica on Sunday evening met representatives of the Croat community in the Croatian Cultural Centre in Chicago. The meeting was attended by some 50 representatives of the Croat associations from the wider Chicago area.
The Croatian deputies spoke about Croatia's priorities in foreign policy, the country's joining the European Union and NATO, government results and plans on the home and economic fronts, as well as in the education and judiciary sectors. They also spoke about possibilities for investments.
Matusic and Zubovic are scheduled to attend the National Prayer Breakfast in Hilton Hotel, that is being held traditionally on the first Thursday in February. Some 3,000 dignitaries from around the world will gather for the event. US President George W. Bush gave a talk at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006.