RECEPTION HELD IN ZAGREB ON CHRISTMAS EVE IN ORTHODOX CALENDAR

ZAGREB, Jan 6 (Hina) - The Association of Serb Organizations (SSO), and the Serb Cultural Society 'Prosvjeta', on Monday held a reception on occasion of Christmas and New Year holidays according to Julian calendar, celebrated by Orthodox believers. At the Zagreb reception the SSO head, Milorad Pupovac, said that the Christmas Eve and Christmas are holidays when messages of peace, love and understanding are sent. He added that those were days when all committed themselves of respecting highest human values. Pupovac stressed that he believed that it was possible after the years of war and suffering to begin create peace, friendship and progress among people. He thanked many guests at the reception, including a Croatian Parliament vice president, Drazen Budisa, the Croatian Government's representative, Ivan Majdak, the head of the Croatian Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees, Damir Zoric, religious dignitaries and representatives of national communities, political parties and Diplomatic Corps. "May Next Year be a year of hope and faith, and Serbs in the Republic of Croatia will know to show understanding toward everybody, toward their co-citizens, and first of all toward the Croatian people," Pupovac said. The Orthodox Parish Priest of Zagreb, Milenko Popovic, expressed joy at the fact that he "sees that peace, understanding, love and tolerance are coming." He wished that all missing persons and detainees could be found and all displaced persons and refugees return to their homes. The Parliament vice president Budisa voiced a hope that 1997 would be a year of peace and building bridges of friendship between people. He also hoped that the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area into the Croatian legal system would pass off in peace and of benefit to both the Croatian nation and the Serb national community as well as to their common homeland. (hina) mš 062149 MET jan 97