ZAGREB, April 26 (Hina) - Only a unified Europe can guarantee its peoples prosperity in competition with the other two powerful global factors, the USA and Asian tigers headed by Japan. Croatia must direct its political actions to
joining such a Europe, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said at the presentation of the Croatian translation of Robert Schuman's book "For Europe" at the European House in Zagreb Wednesday.
ZAGREB, April 26 (Hina) - Only a unified Europe can guarantee its
peoples prosperity in competition with the other two powerful
global factors, the USA and Asian tigers headed by Japan.
Croatia must direct its political actions to joining such a Europe,
Croatian President Stipe Mesic said at the presentation of the
Croatian translation of Robert Schuman's book "For Europe" at the
European House in Zagreb Wednesday. #L#
Present at the promotion were numerous participants of Croatia's
social and political life and representatives of the diplomatic
corps.
Speaking were also the French and German ambassadors to Croatia,
Albert Turot and Volker Haak, as well as the presidents of the
European House and European Movement - Croatia, Ljubomir Cacic and
Drazen Kalogjera.
"I am glad I can speak about a subject which is not Croatia's every-
day life. It is questionable if someone who does not read Schuman's
book can understand the current European movements. Had some from
the former authorities read it, perhaps they would have made some
decisions differently," Mesic said.
Schuman's book "For Europe" is a story about the creation of
Schuman's declaration reached on May 9, 1950, which carried
Europe's modern history in a new direction.
"Those who attack me and accuse me of being against frontiers are
hard-line nationalists who understand nothing. I am not against
frontiers, but for those which connect. Those who speak about us
losing our sovereignty did not mind a group of people sovereignly
robbing their own people," Mesic asserted, adding there was no fear
of "the Danes ceasing being Danes or Croats being Croats" in a
unified Europe.
Croatia today is a country of opportunities which must direct its
actions towards joining such a Europe, Mesic said.
The promotion of the book was especially applauded by the Robert
Schuman Foundation in Paris, which assisted the publishing of the
book in Croatian, stressing "gratitude to Croatian President Stipe
Mesic who had, in accepting ideas which had come forth from the
ponderings of Robert Schuman, shown he supported the basics of
sovereign Europe with which Croatia shares the same values".
(hina) lml mm