CONGRESS OF EUROPEAN LIBERAL YOUTH STARTS IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, March 26 (Hina) - An international congress of the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC), which is held for the first time in Croatia, opened in Zagreb on Friday with some 200 representatives of liberal youth organisations from a number of European countries in attendance.#L# Among the participants were representatives of liberal parties currently in power in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands and Slovenia. The congress will be held on March 27 and 28, the main topic being elections for the European Parliament in June and a liberal election platform. LYMEC president Ellen Trane Norby of Denmark, who is running for the European Parliament, said in her welcome speech the Liberal Youth supported the enlargement of the EU. LYMEC is a youth organisation of the European Liberal Democrats and its members from Croatia are the People's Party (HNS), the Liberal Party (LS), Libra, the Social Liberal Party (HSLS) and the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), whose leaders welcomed the participants in the congress. The congress is expected to adopt a political resolution which will support Croatia's candidacy for EU membership in the next enlargement round. The congress started with a short film entitled "Croatia Welcomes LYMEC" featuring young people from Zagreb who presented their opinions about sexual education in school, abortion, the legalisation of light drugs and same-sex marriages, as well as about whether the church was interfering in politics. (Hina) rml