SYMPOSIUM ON "FUTURE OF THE STATE" HELD IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, May 10 (Hina) - The future of the state is an important and topical issue for the modern society that is being discussed at a two-day convention which began at the Goethe Institute in Zagreb on Friday. The event was organised by the Zagreb Faculty of Political Sciences and the German political foundation "Konrad Adenauer". #L# The head of the foundation's international cooperation department for Europe and the USA, Peter Weilemann, recalled that the Konrad Adenauer foundation advocated the creation of such political conditions which would make democratic development possible. With its two education centres and 21 education units, the foundation is active on the entire German territory, while its offices abroad are involved in more than 200 projects in over 120 countries all over the world. Since 1964 the foundation has borne the name of the first German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and developed from the Society for Christian-Democratic Education Work, established in 1956. Speaking about the main topic, Weilemann said that issues about the future of the state were today discussed at two levels -- the tasks of and the definition of borders of the modern state, and the notion of the state in the context of European integration processes. Weilemann claims that states will not perish, but their importance will be made more relative. In this context he mentioned defining a European Union jurisdiction catalogue, including common foreign policy and security issues, while, he added, other issues would remain within the jurisdiction of national structures. Zvonko Posavec, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, said that the state would survive as one of the most important factors of a society's ability to function, but not the only one. Renowned Croatian and German legal and political experts will be discussing several other issues regarding the future of the state during the convention. (hina) lml sb