CROATIAN PRESIDENT'S EASTER MESSAGE

ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Saturday sent an Easter message to the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, and to all Christian believers. "Easter is the greatest Christian holiday, the day when Christ's victory and resurrection gives all Christians the strength and faith in life and freedom. We celebrate this Easter in free Croatia, looking forward to the return of the Croatian Danube region under its wing and to the return of all displaced people to their homes. May the light and joy of Easter illuminate all those who suffer because they have been left without their loved ones, all Croats in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and round the world, in the hope that the suffering and exile will never again be repeated. I wish this year's celebration of resurrection would remind the young people of our painful past and that it would be an incentive to them to invest all their abilities in the future of our homeland. With this faith I wish all Croats and people of goodwill a joyful and blessed Easter and Easter holidays filled with peace, reconciliation with their fellow creatures and the renewal of family and national unity," the message said. (hina) vm 291010 MET mar 97