COE COMMITTEE DISCUSSES CROATIAN CULTURAL POLITICS

( Editorial: --> 5618 ) STRASBOURG, April 8 (Hina) - The Croatian National Report on its cultural politics is one of the best reports submitted to the Council of Europe Culture Committee, because it is not only analytical, but also critical, the Committee's president, Anna Niewiadomska said on Wednesday. The Committee o Wednesday held a discussion on Croatian cultural politics based on reports by Croatian culture experts and a parallel study by experts of the Council of Europe. Speaking about the report, Croatian Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic said this was the first established review of the basic guidelines of the national cultural politics between 1990 and 1996". Biskupic pointed out the significance of the report of Council of Europe experts who visited Croatia three times last year headed by Niewiadomska and Charles Landry and met over 300 people employed in culture and visited numerous cities. Biskupic stressed that in the upcoming period, accent will be placed on the decentralisation of culture, multi-culture and the creation of a clear financial system in culture. He recalled that over 20,000 cultural monuments had been damaged during the Homeland War. the most important topics discussed after the report were variety and inter-cultural understanding, cultural heritage and cultural tourism. The Croatian report will enter a comparative study by the Council of Europe on cultural policies of 12 member countries taking part in the project. After the discussion on Croatian cultural politics, exhibitions "From the Dove to Peace" and "Small Country" were opened. Croatian pianist Martina Filjak held a concert. (hina) lm mm 081958 MET apr 98