PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT URGES QUICK PASSING OF ISLANDS LAW

( Editorial: --> 0968 ) SUPETAR, July 31 (Hina) - Croatian National Parliament President Vlatko Pavletic visited the southern Adriatic island of Brac on Friday and told local officials he would push for the Law on Islands to be delivered as soon as possible. In talks with the mayor of the island's largest town Supetar, Nikica Maricic, Pavletic said the law would be introduced in the autumn session of parliament. He said not all Croatian islands were in the same situation, even though they had been economically devastated for decades, and Brac had better connections to the mainland than other islands. Pavletic said the islands and any other parts of Croatia could not live off tourism alone and it was important to develop other activities, which the law would support. He also visited the island's oldest settlement Skrip, the local museum, the popular tourist resort of Bol and Brac's highest point, Vidova Gora, where he had a working meeting with the island's seven municipal heads. Supetar Mayor Maricic said the island's main priority was good connections with the whole country, but it already had good links with central Europe through its airport. He said the tourism season on Brac had been successful so far, with all 1,300 hotel beds in Supetar for instance filled, and the highest number of foreign guests were Germans, Austrians and Slovenes. (Hina) mbr 311409 MET jul 98