2ND DAY OF SYMPOSIUM "CROATIA 2000 - CROATIAN DIASPORA"

ZAGREB, June 14 (Hina) - The position of Croats in other countries and their contribution to the culture of those countries, the prospects of the return of Croatian emigrants to their homeland, the media's role in emigrant communities and the experiences of the second generation of Croatian emigrants were the topics of separate sessions of the second day of the "Croatia 2000 - the Croatian Diaspora (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow)" symposium, organized by the Croatian Strategic Research Centre in cooperation with the Croatian Immigration Ministry and the Croatian Emigrants' Association, under the patronage of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. It was pointed out that Croats who emigrated to Sweden, Germany, Canada and the United States, to South America to Australia and New Zealand, have contributed to the development of culture in those countries. Thanks to their diligent and systematic work, compliance with the laws of the countries they moved to, Croatian emigrants earned respect in their new environments. It was also pointed out that Croats had emigrated, in large numbers, due to political reasons as well. But the Croatian political emigration had not at all been politically homogeneous, as former Yugoslav authorities claimed, said Jere Jareb, who added that the communist tendency in Croatian emigration had been insufficiently investigated. Ivo Butkovic spoke about the characteristics of Croatian political emigration to Australia and the promotion of Croatian interests there between 1960 and 1990, while Tomislav Bosnjak spoke about the activities of the Croatian People's Council in Australia. (hina) ha 142139 MET jun 97