FIRST CONGRESS OF ISTRIANS BEGINS IN PULA

PULA, April 13 (Hina) - The first Congress of Istrians has begun in Pula this afternoon, attracting about 700 participants from Croatia and abroad, 200 of whom from Slovenia and Italy. Prefect of Istria County Luciano Delbianco addressed the Congress at its beginning. He said that love for Istria and regional identity was an incentive for organizing this gathering. Delbianco emphasized the importance of the co-existence in Istria as well as of multinational tolerance, multiculture, regionalism and transborder cooperation on the peninsula. The head of the Italian Union, Giuseppe Rota was also one of the speakers today, and he tackled the position of the Italian minority in this Croatian County and in the Slovene Adriatic coast. The chairman of Istria County's Assembly, Damir Kajin, said the intention of the Congress' organizers was to gather for the first time all present and former citizens of Istria and start talks on this region and its plans. (hina) mms 132136 MET apr 95