'CROATIAN BOOKS MONTH '97 ' OPENED IN VUKOVAR

VUKOVAR, Oct 15 (Hina) - The Croatian Book Month '97, a manifestation to be held for a month all over Croatia, was opened in Vukovar on Wednesday under the sponsorship of the Croatian Culture Ministry. President of the National Committee for the implementation of the Trust Establishment Programme, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, state officials, representatives of the local authorities, UNTAES representatives and Serbs from the Danubian area were present at the opening. The opening of the Croatian Book Month '97 in Vukovar was an important cultural event which demonstrated that the peaceful reintegration was at its close, Ozbolt said. The book "Guide through Vukovar" by Pavao Pavlicic, who was born in Vukovar, was presented. The exhibition "From the Dove to Peace" was also opened. The exhibition was also held in Paris recently, displaying the cultural heritage of the cities of Osijek, Vinkovci, Ilok and Vukovar. Representatives of about a dozen Croatian publishing companies, the National Library and the University Library from Zagreb donated about 2,000 books to the Vukovar library, which had been damaged in the war. (hina) lm jn 151740 MET oct 97