CONFERENCE ON INTER-ETHNIC TOLERANCE HELD IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - A regional conference entitled "Zagreb, Sarajevo and Belgrade on the road to Europe" is being held in Zagreb on Friday to discuss an agreement on inter-ethnic tolerance.#L# The conference brought together representatives of the three capitals and civil organisations from them. It was organised by the Zagreb City Assembly, the Civil Committee for Human Rights from Zagreb, the Centre for Regionalism from Novi Sad, and the Croatian branch of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Christian Schultz, director of the Croatian office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said in his introductory remarks that his foundation would support any initiative aimed at promoting cooperation and tolerance among the countries of Southeast Europe. The deputy director of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) office in Croatia, Robert Becker, said that cooperation in the region was not only possible but was already being implemented. Despite media reports that an agreement on inter-ethnic tolerance would be signed at the conference, this initiative by the Novi Sad Centre for Regionalism failed. The chairwoman of the Zagreb City Assembly, Morana Palikovic Gruden, said the agreement first had to go through the City Executive Council and the City Assembly, which she said might take two months. Similar procedure also has to be observed in Sarajevo. (Hina) vm sb