MESIC RECEIVES CROATIAN WORLD CONGRESS

ZAGREB, July 7 (Hina) - Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic on Friday received a delegation of participants in the fourth convention of the Croatian World Congress (HSK), led by the HSK President Simun Sito Coric. Mesic said that nowadays when Croatia is an irrefutable fact, all should invest efforts in the process of its democratisation so that Croatia can reach the standard of developed countries. Croatia can become the financial and economic centre of this part of Europe and we shall take speedy steps towards the accomplishment of our strategic objectives such as the admission into the European Union and NATO. "It is a task of our generation," Mesic explained. At the moment we direct our attention to how we can carry out the revision of the ownership transformation and attract the successful management and capital that can activate our resources and help us to implement a few projects which Europe should accept, Mesic added. And this depends on all of us, Mesic told the HSK delegation. Politics should not bother too much Croatian emigrants, but they should lobby for their homeland just as Jews do for Israel, regardless of the changes of political parties in power in Israel. I call on you to help us in such efforts, Mesic told HSK members. The HSK President Coric voiced satisfaction with the fact that President Mesic received this delegation. Coric told reporters that President Mesic had spoken in principle about Croatia's treatment of Croats who live in other countries but he added that Croats abroad would like to be acquainted with more details. (hina) jn ms