TUDJMAN'S STATEMENT ON OCCASION OF HDZ FOUNDATION ANNIVERSARY

ZAGREB, June 18 (Hina) - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party marked the eighth anniversary of its foundation in a Zagreb restaurant on Tuesday. On that occasion the HDZ leader and president of Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, gave an interview with Croatian television, which was broadcast in a late night news programme. The celebration brought together the founders of the HDZ, who had been persecuted by the communist regime which did not tolerate the display of Croatian national symbols, such as the flag, Tudjman said. We were forced to go underground when we presented a national and democratic programme to lead Croatia out of communism and the Yugoslav federation, which was a sort of a dungeon to Croatian people, he added. Tudjman said that in early 1990 it was still not clear whether Croatian communist authorities would allow his party to take part in the elections. "And today these people are criticising the governing party for being arrogant, forgetting that we were more than democrats, because when we assumed power we let them keep their positions in the name of the policy of Croatian reconciliation." Tudjman said that during the Homeland War, as the HDZ was organising the defence of Croatian people to secure their freedom and equality "they accused us in the Croatian Parliament of creating a party militia. And we were creating the Croatian army with which we won all our victories." "Those people forget that we really conducted the policy of Croatian reconciliation thanks to which they retained their functions in the state administration and media," he added. Even today, after all our victories, those people dare speak such nonsense that Croatia should be subordinated to some foreign centres. They do not see that our task, as a ruling party with a parliamentary majority, as well as the task of opposition parties, should be to strengthen Croatia democratically, politically and economically to make it an independent subject. "Those people deny everything and together with those who came to Croatia not knowing where they came or who was competing in the elections, they say that those elections were free but not fair. "To them it would apparently be fair if we put ourselves in the service of those centres which sent people from outside, for both county and presidential elections, to replace this Croatian government, the Croatian Democratic Union, which was really more than democratic to those who used to be in power," Tudjman said. "Should those people who today speak of the haughtiness of the Croatian government be reminded that back in 1991 some of them left the Croatian Parliament when we were making decisions on disassociation with Yugoslavia. Let them think about that. Democracy, yes, but not irresponsibility. There is a personal and historical responsibility both of parties and individuals. Since its inception and throughout these eight years, the Croatian Democratic Union has demonstrated national breadth, we have achieved reconciliation and national renewal as no other nation has," Tudjman said. "Therefore, we did not by any means banish those responsible for Croatia's difficult position under communist rule. And today they deny everything we have achieved and they do not look at what Croatia's problems are, but how to curry favour - yesterday they curried favour with Belgrade and Moscow, and today they look how to curry favour with who knows whom in the world," he said. Noting that the Croatian people had for the seventh time expressed their stance in Sunday's elections, Tudjman said: "I call on these petty politicians to consider that the fate of Croatia is at issue and that we shall not allow ourselves to be placed in the service of others. Some foreign centres wanted to use the Zagreb crisis to cause a situation such as those in Serbia or Albania. "No, this nation, with this leadership, with this strength of the centrist party, the Croatian Democratic Union, will not allow that, notwithstanding the nonsense and deceit (of the petty politicians)," Tudjman said. "As can be seen, they cannot delude the Croatian people, but they can certainly find in foreign centres those who want to use them for their purposes," Tudjman said. (hina) vm lm jn 181534 MET jun 97