KONRAD ADENAUER FOUNDATION ADVOCATES EU ENLARGEMENT

ZAGREB, May 2 (Hina) - The enlargement of the European Union is one of Europe's most decisive answers to globalisation, and Croatia is welcome to the process on condition it accepts EU regulations and principles, Reinhard Freiherr von Schorlemmer, a representative of Germany's Christian Democrats and head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said in Zagreb on Wednesday. #L# The German official made this statement at a lecture held at Zagreb's Intercontinental Hotel. Enlarged by ten new, most advanced candidates, the EU would exceed the national income of the United States and overpower the United States and Japan together with its population. The importance and influence of an enlarged EU would increase in the international community and international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, von Schorlemmer said. Countries which are candidates for accession to the EU, including Croatia, are obliged to accept EU standards and principles, he said, adding Croatia did not have to fear that its market would disintegrate when faced with the EU market, he said. Present at today's lecture were some 50 representatives of Croatia's political, economic and scientific scene as well as an eight-member German parliament delegation. Since its establishment in 1964, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, one of Germany's five political foundations, has been promoting the ideas of Germany's first post-war chancellor Konrad Adenauer on the establishment of an indivisible continent of stability and welfare. The foundation is also active in foreign countries, where it organises political education, provides grants for young people and contributes to the process of development and democratisation through projects of media freedom, local self-government and legislation with DEM 200 million-worth funds. Since January 2001, the foundation has had an office in Zagreb and has also been present in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia. (hina) sb rml