SDP COMMEMORATES DEATH OF CROATIAN PRESIDENT

ZAGREB, Dec 11 (Hina) - Although it was not completely unexpected, the news about the death of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman saddened us as it did all other citizens of Croatia. The man who left a prominent mark on the first decade of Croatia's independence has passed away, Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Ivica Racan said at a party session commemorating President Tudjman's death on Saturday. The time marked by President Tudjman was a dramatic decade of our history, which almost by fate determined the course of not only the time we were living in, but of the years to come, in which we expect the affirmation of our new state and the strengthening of all components of Croatian society, as a community of modern European people, Racan said. We participated, together with President Tudjman, in the creation of the Croatian state. After Tudjman, we shall do all in our power for Croatia to continue on the path of democracy. Let us take on the obligation of doing it together, Racan said. The democratic, prosperous, and just Croatia we shall build will be the best proof of the legitimacy of Croatia's aspirations in a time in which all of us, together with Tudjman, the first President of the Republic, set out on the road of state independence, the SDP president said. (hina) mm rml