75 % OF PARLIAMENT TO JOIN STATEHOOD CAMPAIGN, FOUNDERS CLAIM

ZAGREB, Jan 31 (Hina) - The newly-founded Croatian Statehood Campaign today held a press conference under the motto "The worst possible Croatia is better than the best possible Yugoslavia." "The Croatian Statehood Campaign recruits Croatian intellectuals and statehood-oriented associations and parties," said Member of Parliament, Tomislav Mercep, adding that another four MPs helped found the movement. Mercep expects the Campaign's membership to bulge to unprecedented proportions as early as the next few days, gathering under its sway at least fifty MPs, and very soon, three quarters of Parliament. The Campaign has so far been joined by several Croatian statehood-oriented parties, the Association of War Widows, the Association of War Volunteers and some members of the Union of Croatian Political Prisoners. The Campaign will embrace a Croatian, statehood-oriented and Catholic platform, nipping in the bud any Liberal tendencies that sprout in Croatia. The movement intends to promote its ideas through a full- assault media campaign. "Most of the media is openly or secretly anti-Croatian," one of the founders, Hrvoje Sosic, said. "They are falsifying the recent Croatian history and current events." "The Croatian Statehood Campaign has been founded precisely to spread the word of truth," he said. The Campaign secretary, Bozidar Spitzer, advised the media to henceforth tell the truth about the two crucial periods of Croatian history - that of the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) and the "Croatian Spring" movement (1971). (hina) mm as sd 311734 MET jan 95