HOLY SEE SECRETARY SPEAKS ABOUT RELATIONS WITH CROATIA

( Editorial: --> 9743 ) ZAGREB, June 8 (Hina) - Relations between the Holy See and Croatia have been developing for a large number of years and best proof of their condition is the upcoming second visit of Pope John Paul II to Croatia, Holy See Foreign Relations Secretary Msgr. Jean Louis Tauran said on Monday. Tauran held a speech at the symposium "Experience of Modern Croatian Diplomacy" in Zagreb on Monday. Speaking about relations between the Vatican and Croatia, Tauran said they have existed for more than thirteen centuries. A new chapter in their relations began on January 13, 1992 when the Holy See recognised Croatia, and on February 8, 1992 when formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were established. Violence can never solve conflicts between people or nations because violence gives rise to violence," Tauran said. This was the principle the Holy See acted under during the aggression on Croatia, after the former Yugoslav army attacked its citizens instead of protecting them, Tauran stressed. In recognising Croatia, the Holy See was led by various moral principles, among others the right to respect aspirations for independence and the principle of defending victims of aggression, he said. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and the Holy See, Pope John Paul II arrived in Croatia in September 1994, and he will visit Croatia again this October, Tauran said. He recalled that three bilateral agreements had been signed in 1996. I am sure that this cooperation will continue and that we will soon sign a new agreement on economic and financial issues, Tauran said. The Holy See's diplomacy is principally based on the conviction that the goal of international relations was to harmonise interdependence among states," he said. (hina) lml 081805 MET jun 98