SOROS CONFIRMS SEEKING NEW MORE AGGRESSIVE BOARD IN CROATIA

( Editorial: --> 7056 ) ZAGREB, May 27 (Hina) - The chairman of the Open Society Institute (OSI), George Soros, reaffirmed in his letter in which he renewed members of the institute's board in Croatia that the renewal was done in the need of a new board. The new board should be willing to be more aggressive in fighting for a civil society in Croatia against attacks from Croatian authorities. According to recent reports in Croatian media, Soros had recalled almost the whole administrative board of OSI-Croatia because the board was insufficiently radical in fighting for an open society. In a statement issued Wednesday, the OSI in New York refuted those allegations claiming what was at hand was simply a case of usual board members rotation. According to Soros' letter, which Hina received from the OSI seat in New York, "OSI-Croatia needs to be able to take action quickly and aggressively to support civil society in its programmes, and it must be prepared to defend itself just as quickly and aggressively in the event of future attacks." "Given the unusual pressures that OSI-Croatia is facing, I am convinced that Board rotation should occur more quickly and more thoroughly than had been envisioned originally," Soros said in his letter. OSI-Croatia is part of a worldwide network of Soros' non-profit foundations. A US millionaire, Soros is a Hungarian Jew, who established the foundations to promote open society institutes, i.e. modern liberal democracy. (hina) ha jn 272239 MET may 98