ZAGREB, July 7 (Hina) - Representatives of the Croatian World Congress (HSK), an organisation gathering 29 associations of Croat emigrants, on Friday announced their organisation would continue cooperating with all relevant factors in
the homeland regardless of the change of authority in Croatia. We respect the authorities which were elected by the people and we will cooperate with them in protecting Croatian interests and values, said Simun Sito Coric, who was re-elected HSK president for a period of four years at the fourth HSK convention. The convention, held on July 5-7 in Zagreb, adopted a 12-item resolution which calls on the current authorities to secure the continuity of contacts with Croats living outside of Croatia and cooperate with them. This, Coric said, is important because Croat emigrants will not have to re-establish relations with every newly-elected authority. The HSK requests in the r
ZAGREB, July 7 (Hina) - Representatives of the Croatian World
Congress (HSK), an organisation gathering 29 associations of Croat
emigrants, on Friday announced their organisation would continue
cooperating with all relevant factors in the homeland regardless of
the change of authority in Croatia.
We respect the authorities which were elected by the people and we
will cooperate with them in protecting Croatian interests and
values, said Simun Sito Coric, who was re-elected HSK president for
a period of four years at the fourth HSK convention.
The convention, held on July 5-7 in Zagreb, adopted a 12-item
resolution which calls on the current authorities to secure the
continuity of contacts with Croats living outside of Croatia and
cooperate with them.
This, Coric said, is important because Croat emigrants will not
have to re-establish relations with every newly-elected
authority.
The HSK requests in the resolution that the Croatian authorities
take into consideration the complexity of the Croat corpus outside
Croatia. The Congress is concerned about the dissolution of
official institutions for cooperation with Croats living outside
Croatia and believes that one should start drawing up a programme of
return and make a long-term plan for returning at least the capital
sum of the savings of injured depositors in Croatian banks.
Regarding parliamentary representation, the Congress believes it
would be best for large Croat communities living on different
continents and in different countries to elect by themselves their
non-party representatives, and suggests the introduction of postal
vote.
The HSK believes the marginalisation of Croats living abroad is
very damaging. This refers also to Bosnian Croat refugees, who must
not be forced to leave for third countries, as well as Croats living
in Yugoslavia.
Emigrants, Coric said, have grown tired of the phrase about the ten
dark and lost years, they are embittered with the message that the
Croat people are losers because the Croatian state has been
established and disappointed at attempts to "dismantle Tudjman and
his work."
Speaking about the replacement of Ante Beljo as the head of the
Croatian Homeland Foundation (HMI), Gordon Bevanda said the
Congress supported Beljo's statement that his replacement was "an
attack on emigrants."
Commenting on claims that Beljo's replacement was politically
motivated, Bevanda wondered why, if this was true, Beljo was
replaced by Boris Maruna of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who
was not supported by Croat emigrants in the parliamentary election.
Nonetheless, Bevanda said the Congress would continue cooperating
with the Croatian Homeland Foundation.
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