CROATIA AND GERMANY SIGN CULTURAL COOPERATION PROTOCOL

( Editorial: --> 8635 ) BONN, April 22 (Hina) - A protocol was signed in Bonn on Wednesday during a meeting of a mixed Croatian-German commission for cultural cooperation. The protocol provides for the awarding of grants and scholarships to scientists and students through German institutions. It was signed at the end of the three-day meeting between delegation leaders Assistant Croatian Culture Minister Seadeta Midzic and Winfried Heide, a minister-advisor with the German Foreign Ministry. During the meeting of the mixed commission, the Croatian side emphasised its interest in deepening knowledge of Croatian language and culture in Germany. It was brought to the German side's attention that the Croatian language had its own identity which demanded separate notions of the Croatian and Serbian languages. Many higher education institutions in Germany still have centres for the so-called Serbo-Croatian language. (Hina) jn mb /ha 221409 MET apr 98