PANEL DISCUSSION ON CROATIA AND GLOBALISATION HELD IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, May 12 (Hina) - Globalisation cannot be avoided so the main question is not whether Croatians are for or against that process but how to solve problems imposed by globalisation, said participants in Monday's panel discussion entitled "On Globalisation in Croatia and on Croatia in Globalisation". #L# The discussion, organised by a society called "11 January 1972" gathered members of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, historians, economists, other scholars and politicians. An economist, Zvonimir Baletic, said Croatian society had so far been hyperglobalised in an upside-down way, as globalisation had been carried out by others instead of by Croatians. "It is not the same if the United States is pushing us in the European Union, or if the EU is inviting us to join it," Baletic added. University professor Branimir Lokin said the biggest problem of Croatia was not indebtedness but the destroyed production in the country and the high unemployment rate. According to Lokin, this model of globalisation was not accepted by Poland and Slovenia and therefore they fared the best among countries in transition. According to a sociologist, Andjelko Milardovic, there are economic, political, cultural, ecological and information globalisation. "In such a world Croatia must accept the positive aspects of globalisation and resist negative ones," he said. Vlatko Pavletic, the chairman of the association which organised this event, said small cultures should defend themselves with their identity in the process of globalisation, and also incorporate that identity in the global culture. (hina) ms