PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER ACCEPTS INVITATION TO VISIT ISRAEL

ZAGREB, Jan 10 (Hina) - Parliament Speaker Zlatko Tomcic has accepted an official invitation to visit Israel this spring at the head of a Croatian parliamentary delegation. Tomcic was handed the official invitation from his Israeli counterpart Avraham Burg by the chairman of the Knesset's foreign policy and defence committee, David Magen. A delegation of the Israeli parliamentary committee arrived in Croatia on Thursday at the invitation of the chairman of parliament's foreign policy committee, Zdravko Tomac. The delegation praised Croatian President Stipe Mesic's recent visit to Israel and his speech at the Knesset. They said the door to the establishment of very good friendly relations and cooperation was wide open, and that a new stage in Croatian-Israeli relations had begun. Tomcic agreed with these assessments, adding the past must be used to draw lessons and never be forgotten. The Croatian people went through difficult times in its past and fully empathises with the suffering of the Jews, he said, but added attention must be focused on the future and doing everything leading to friendly cooperation and as much prosperity as possible for both the Croatian and Jewish peoples. (hina) ha sb