CROATIAN HEAD OF STATE ATTENDS CONFERENCE IN BERLIN

BERLIN, July 24 (Hina) - The rule of law, i.e. a lawful state, is the fundamental pre-condition to develop and preserve democracy, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in Berlin on Wednesday at a conference of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation entitled "Democratically Shaping the Future - Democracy, the Rule of Law, Social Justice". #L# All countries in transition, including Croatia, the issue of shaping the future in a democratic manner is a key issue, Mesic said during his speech at the conference. "In the first ten years of its independence, Croatia was not truly pluralistic nor a lawful state. A multi-party system existed, however, everything was decided according to the will of one party and its leader. Laws were prepared selectively and human rights were a category that mostly only referred to members of the majority nation. Since the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2000 we have tried to change that situation," the Croatian president emphasised. Nevertheless, results are slow, he added. To shape the future democratically, or rather, shaping a future that will guarantee that it will be a democratic, for Croatia and other countries in transition is only possible on the basis of the existence and actions of a lawful state, he said. Political will to build a lawful state in transition countries must exist primarily in those to whom citizens committed state affairs during free elections, Croatia's head of state said. However, established democracies should assist them with their experience, knowledge and occasionally pressure to enable the transition from selectively applying laws and privileges and corruption to the rule of law. Only then will conditions for a democrat future be established, Mesic concluded in his presentation entitled "The Rule of Law as the Foundation of Democracy". On Wednesday morning, President Mesic met his German counterpart Johannes Rau. Prior to his return to Zagreb, he will meet briefly with the director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Bernhard Vogel. (hina) sp it