Malta beaten by Croatia

UEFA Under 17 Championship
Malta beaten by Croatia
The Malta U-17 team yesterday conceded their second consecutive defeat in the UEFA U-17 mini-tournament being played in Finland after they were beaten by Croatia 1-0.

The goal that gave the Croatians their first win in the competition arrived four minutes into injury time to deny the Maltese from gathering their first points of the tournament.

Mark Miller's men had opened their commitments in the tournament with a 2-0 defeat to hosts Finland on Tuesday. Croatia drew their opening match against Northern Ireland 2-2.

Malta play their final match of the mini-tournament on Saturday.


http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=135586

Monografija Drazen Petrovic u prodaji

Drage Hrvatice i Hrvati,

U ime Zri-Sporta iz Zagreba ponosno objavljujem da je
na adresi  www.petro3.com  moguce kupiti monografiju
"Drazen Petrovic". Zivot najboljeg hrvatskog kosarkasa
svih vremena opisan je njegovim rijecima, bogato
ilustriran mnostvom fotografija koje su obisle svijet,
ali i nikad prije vidjenim slikama iz obiteljskog
albuma. Ovo kapitalno djelo tjednima ne silazi s hrvatskih
top-lista publicistike, a monografija je, osim na
hrvatskom, tiskana i na engleskom jeziku.
Clanovima CroatianWorldNeta dajemo poseban popust:
kupac cetiri primjerka peti dobiva besplatno.
Jednostavno u kucici "posebne napomene" napisite CroatianWorld.

Svako dobro,

Tomislav Birtic
tbirtic@yahoo.com

Matter of our choice

To:radzind@hrw.org
CC:hrwatcheu@skynet.be, hrwnyc@hrw.org, hrwdc@hrw.org, hrwla@hrw.org, hrwsf@hrw.org, hrwuk@hrw.org, hrwgva@hrw.org

Dear Ms. Radzin,
I appreciate your answer to my letter related to HRW reporting on human rights in Croatia. Let me say a few comments.

>> ... Human Rights Watch is not involved in any conspiracy against Croatia, Croats, or any other entity, group, or person, and that what we report about is entirely a matter of our choice.

And what is your choice depends on – who this “we” stands for. I mean - who pays for this business (governments, companies, individuals – whoever it is). In that respect, it is so natural that what HRW reports about is entirely a matter of “HRW’s” choice.

I didn't think this is about conspiracy against anyone. It’s about working FOR someone. I do admire those few souls that volunteer in HRW with best intentions. But for the most part people are there employed simply as executives – just as in any other business.
Do you do this in your free time? That’s fair enough. Neither your donators do this for the sake of righteousness on the planet. Not more than some other figures in democratic countries make wars for the sake of democracy and freedom of people ruled by the dictator whom these “liberators” themselves supported and armed earlier.

>>You also state that HRW does not report on human rights of non-Serbs in Serbia and Montenegro. According to your letter, on our web page on Serbia and Montenegro (http://www.hrw.org/europe/fry.php), we do not "say a word" about violations of non-Serbs' rights. This is manifestly wrong. For example, the seventh document on our Serbia-Montenegro page, entitled, "Progress on War Crimes Accountability, the Rule of Law, and Minority Rights in Serbia and Montenegro" (http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/serbiatestimony060403.htm),
addresses violations of rights of ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia and the rights of Roma in the country.

I went earlier through titles on your web page related to S&M to see if I could find an equivalent report on violations of human rights of Croats in Vojvodina and in Boka Kotorska (where Croats constituted until not so long ago about 90% of population and today about 5%).

I did go all the way down the page, so - to seventh title and below. But by the time I reached to the seventh one, I probably did not read all titles whose beginnings clearly were not related to what I was looking for. And you can probably see why title that starts with: “Progress on War Crimes Accountability” does not seem like the topic I mentioned.

So I missed this title but nevertheless – there is nothing in that report about violations of human rights of Croats in Serbia.
Furthermore, this well buried report with misleading title makes some wrong implications. Because only Albanians and Roma are mentioned, this wrongly suggests that either:
(1)Albanians and Roma are the only minorities in Serbia or
(2) That these are only minorities whose human rights are violated in Serbia.
Each of these is far from correct.

Croats are mentioned in that report in this context:
“Issuance of indictments or other concrete and verifiable evidence of progress on domestic investigations into prominent alleged war crimes, including Batajnica (mass graves in Belgrade’s suburbs, containing some 500 bodies of Kosovo Albanians killed in 1999), the Bitiqi Brothers (U.S. citizens of Albanian origin, allegedly killed by the Serbian police in 1999), and Ovcara (killing of 200 Croats near Vukovar in 1991).”

My questions related to this are:
Vukovar is in Croatia, unlike Batajnica and Kosovo. How Vukovar finished in Serbian violations of human rights in Serbia? How is it Serbian "domestic" crime? It was crime commited during their aggression on Croatia.
If you wanted to talk about Serbian war crimes in Croatia (which you didn't but if you did) - than Vukovar is not the only place in Croatia where Serbs committed the same kind of crime.
Further, what is it that makes these two people of US citizenship so special in this report? Is it bigger crime since they were US citizens? I know it’s not in theory. But practically?
Maybe two other of your reports related to ICC suggest the practical answer to my last question (please see below). I am glad you are bringing that up. But the above sentence indicates you act (report) along the same lines:

Why the US needs this court
America's rejection of the International Criminal Court is a threat to its own security
The irony is obvious: that Washington simultaneously demands complete co-operation with international justice at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (or else), and complete non-co-operation with international justice at the ICC (or else).
June 15, 2003 Commentary

U.S. Pressure on Croatia and Slovenia Undermines Justice
Former Yugoslav States Should Reject ICC Side Agreements
The Bush administration's pressure on Croatia and Slovenia in pursuit of a special exemption from the International Criminal Court (ICC) while rightly insisting on cooperation with the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal is blatant hypocrisy, Human Rights Watch said today. (Bosnian)


>>Finally, Mr. Hrepic, I would like to clarify the following: under international human rights law, difficulties in finding employment do not constitute, in and of themselves, a human rights violation. Employment becomes a human rights issue when discrimination on ethnic, religious, and some other grounds prevents a person from finding a job.

This makes sense to me. But why don’t you follow this yourself? Your report on Croatia suggests that: “The government should offer tax exemptions and other financial incentives to owners of private businesses who employ minority returnees.”

Don’t you suggest with this that Croatian government should “prevent a [nonminority] person from finding a job”. Precisely in situation when you yourself acknowledge that: “...unemployment among Croats is also high.”
Again - please consider investigating problems with human rights in Croatia.

Would you please also consider this:

In the period of ex-Yugoslavia, 70% of the police stuff in Croatia was Serbian, while they constituted 12.2% of the entire population. In some Croatian regions these figures were even more striking: in Istria the police stuff was 82% Serbian, 95% school teachers were the Serbs. The Serbs also occupied almost all the leading positions in majority of the Croatian schools, enterprises and political institutions.
http://mirror.veus.hr/darko/etf/et112.html#jugo

I sincerely hope this is not what you aim at with your suggestions in this report.

With respect to sources, you made several good points. Nevertheless, what you find - always depends on what you look for. And what you look for is again, as you put it “entirely a matter of your choice”.

In a similar way, for example, International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating war crimes in Croatia so they started and ended at very particular places and at very particular points in time. Surely they find what they need. And what they need is apparently pre-determined by what they look for. Due to this kind of justice, these righteousness protecting agencies together with media managed to equate agressor and victim - for reasons that only they know. This created situation in which many war crimes likely will never be investigated and masters of war like Karadjic and Mladic are free.


So specially because things are so biased, I can not understand why your top pages on both – Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro start with two reports from Croatia. And why is equivalent report from Serbia buried down into the page, masked with other, not really related things and inaccurately and inadequately presented.

This is a big issue because EVEN if HRW and similar organizations would do their fair share - in a way they claim they do - it is media (media owners - again owners) who pick what to talk about from there. I hope you are not deliberately misleading anyway biased media.

I hope that you will consider these clarifications and approach all the people in Croatia and elsewhere in the world as to equally valid human beings.

Sincerely,

Zdeslav Hrepic
zhrepic@phys.ksu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Dorit Radzin radzind@hrw.org]
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 2:46 PM
To: Hrepic, Zdeslav
Subject: your letter on Human Rights Watch's research on Croatia


Dear Mr. Hrepic,

Thank you for your letter commenting on our recent report on impediments to refugee returns to Croatia.

Human Rights Watch sometimes receives complaints from private individuals, government officials, and other persons, similar to yours
-- namely, that we are biased against ethnic groups or states to which they belong. In Serbia, for example, many believe that Human Rights Watch has singled out Serbia and Serbs as the favorite "target" for criticism. What those who complain about HRW's alleged bias all have in common is insistence that the "other side" is also violating rights, implying that the other side's violations somehow justify or make less relevant the violations made by "our side."

From Human Rights Watch's point of view, however, a violation of human rights remains a violation irrespecive of whether somebody else violates rights or not. Human Rights Watch does not count and compare violations committed by or against members of one group with the violations committed by or against by members of another group. We are concerned with violations of rights no matter which group the victim or the perpetrator belongs to.

Another common feature the critics of Human Rights Watch share is the belief that the organization's alleged bias makes it part of a conspiracy. As you write in one of your letters, we are "instructed to, paid for or in the best case - just allowed to" report about certain violations. I assure you, Mr Hrepic, that Human Rights Watch is not involved in any conspiracy against Croatia, Croats, or any other entity, group, or person, and that what we report about is entirely a matter of our choice.

Finally, the allegations of Human Rights Watch's bias often simply state

facts wrongly. The inaccuracies in your letter may have contributed to the overall negative assessment you make of our latest report and our work in general.

You begin by stating that the report ("Broken Promises: Impediments to Refugee Return to Croatia") was done by "western informators go[ing] to Belgrade to ask about Croatia." On the contrary: the research for the report was conducted in Croatia, with the exception of several interviews conducted in Serbia. You can very easily establish that by looking into the locations (in the footnotes) of the interviews conducted during the research.

You also state that HRW does not report on human rights of non-Serbs in Serbia and Montenegro. According to your letter, on our web page on Serbia and Montenegro (http://www.hrw.org/europe/fry.php), we do not "say a word" about violations of non-Serbs' rights. This is manifestly wrong. For example, the seventh document on our Serbia-Montenegro page, entitled, "Progress on War Crimes Accountability, the Rule of Law, and Minority Rights in Serbia and Montenegro" (http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/serbiatestimony060403.htm),
addresses violations of rights of ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia and the rights of Roma in the country. There are also numerous press releases, reports, and backgrounders on our Serbia-Montenegro page advocating cooperation of Serbia and Montenegro with the International Criminal for the former Yugoslavia, so that perpetrators of war crimes against non-Serbs could be brought to justice. Just as numerous are the reports about violations of human rights of Kosovo Albanians.

With regard to the letter by Mr. John Kraljic, President of the National

Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA), to which you kindly draw our attention, you have probably noticed that the letter does not dispute any of the facts in our 61-page report. Instead, it discusses extensively the work and personal qualities of Mr. Savo Strbac. Such a disproportionate attention given to Mr. Strbac is peculiar, given that Mr. Strbac is only one of about eighty persons interviewed in the report; he is quoted in eight, out of 333, footnotes in the report.

Moreover, even if everything Mr. Kraljic writes about Mr. Strbac were true, it would be irrelevant as to the issue of accuracy of the information provided by him and used by Human Rights Watch in the report "Broken Promises." Mr. Kraljic does not point at any inaccuracy in those sentences in the report in which Mr. Strbac is a source. To find such inaccuracy would be difficult indeed, because Mr. Strbac's figures on the number of arrested war crime suspects among Croatian Serbs mainly coincide with the figures provided separately by the OSCE. Mr. Strbac also provided Human Rights Watch with the dates on which particular Serb suspects were arrested and the date of their aquittals or convictions. Such dates are rather trivial pieces of information, not "politically charged," and unsuitable for manipulation for political purposes. There is nothing to suggest that Mr. Strbac "fabricated" the dates, and one hardly conceive what goal could anybody try to achieve by making that sort of fabrication.

Finally, Mr. Hrepic, I would like to clarify the following: under international human rights law, difficulties in finding employment do not constitute, in and of themselves, a human rights violation. Employment becomes a human rights issue when discrimination on ethnic, religious, and some other grounds prevents a person from finding a job. It is in that narrow sense that Human Rights Watch dealt with the issue of unemployment of Serb returnees in Croatia. We acknowledge in the report that "employment discrimination on ethnic grounds is difficult to prove since unemployment among Croats is also high." However, we have come across a number of cases in which it was precisely the ethnicity of the (Serb) job-seeker -- and not objective difficulties that many in Croatia face when searching for a job -- that prevented the person from getting employment.

I hope that you will consider these clarifications and approach the Human Rights Watch report as a piece of objective analysis rather than a conspirational attempt to undermine Croatia.

Thank you for your interest in our work.

Sincerely,

Dorit Radzin
Associate
Europe & Central Asia Division
--
***********************
Dorit Radzin
Associate
Europe & Central Asia Division
Human Rights Watch
radzind@hrw.org
Tel: (202) 612-4321
Fax: (202) 612-4333

The Awakening

--Author Unknown

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!

Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on.

And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change...or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon.

You come to terms with the fact that neither of you is Prince Charming or Cinderella and that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you...and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are ... and that's OK.

They are entitled to their own views and opinions. And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself...and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn't do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it's not always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself...and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties. and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche.

And you begin to sift through all the junk you've been fed about how you should behave, how you should look, how much you should weigh, what you should wear, what you should do for a living, how much money you should make, what you should drive, how and where you should live, who you

should marry, the importance of having and raising children, and what you owe your parents, family, and friends.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view.

And you begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with ... and in the process you learn to go with your instincts.

You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive.

And that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing.

You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love.

How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away.

You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes.

And you learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK....and that it is your right to want things and to ask for the things you want ... and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands.

You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less.

And you learn that your body really is your temple.

And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect.

You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest.

And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul.

So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve...and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance.

You also learn that no one can do it all alone...and that it's OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is the greatest robber baron of all: FEAR itself.

You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people.

On these occasions you learn not to personalize things.

You learn that God isn't punishing you or failing to answer your prayers.

It's just life happening.

And you learn to deal with evil in its most primal state - the ego.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart's desire.

And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

And you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

Finally, with courage in your heart and God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

THE BIG SHOW - SYMPHONY OF THE ABSURD

Friday September 19th at the Ford Amphitheatre

2580 Cahuenga Blvd East in Hollywood

www.eschoenberg.com
 

Op-ed

Dear All,

I've seen Orchestre Surreal and I've been amazed how good it is and how talented they are. If you have an interest you won't regret. You do not see or hear 20 plus people on the stage performing on the highest level every day. Outstanding !

Nenad Bach

p.s. If you go to see the show say hello to Elvis.

The Count Down to: THE BIG SHOW.

The Orchestre Surreal complete with it's usual cast of twenty+ characters, Elvis Schoenberg, The Fabulous Miss Thing, Dangerous Dan, and the Musicians who miraculously play the impossible and improbable music, have teamed up with director Allan Walls, choreographer Karen Russell, and the special effects designers at Anatomorphex, for a brand new show that quite frankly has gotten out of hand. What was originally going to be a simple concert at a nice outdoor theater has evolved into a spectacle-extravaganza with an ensemble of over 40, complete with over the top production numbers.

So, if you were ever curious to see the Orchestre Surreal this is the show to see. This is by far our most ambitious endeavor yet, and for those of you who have seen the group, that is saying something. We can't promise that we will be able to pull this off again anytime soon.

Our Big Show entitled "Symphony Of The Absurd" is
One Night Only!
8:00PM Friday September 19th at the Ford Amphitheatre:
2580 Cahuenga Blvd East in Hollywood, just across the 101 from the Hollywood Bowl and just south of Universal Studios.

For Tickets Call: 323 GO 1-Ford, or 323 461-3673,www.fordamphitheatre.org 

eschoenberg@earthlink.net

Tomorrow Elvis Schoenberg, The Fabulous Miss Thing, and Dangerous Dan O'Callaghan will be interviewed on KPFK 90.7FM from 11:45AM to 12:30PM

Also,

The LA Times will be running feature story on the Orchestre Surreal in this Thursday's (tomorrow's) Calendar section.

For those of you who live in Santa Monica/Beverly Hills, Hollywood/Los Feliz, or the SF Valley and have Adelphia Cable. Look for our TV commercial for our concert this Friday at 8:00PM at the Ford Amphitheatre. It will be running on the comedy channel tonight from 10:30 to 11:00 during Reno 911, and today and tomorrow on Bravo and VH1 from 4:00PM to Midnight.

For more info and tickets call: 323 GO-1-FORD or (323) 461-3673www.fordamphitheatre.org

We look forward to seeing you at our show. www.eschoenberg.com 

Dive Franetovic concert schedule

Dear Nenad!
 

I finally have all the information about Dive's visit and tour. We are all so excited that she is coming here! Suzanne Lord

Dive Franetovic, Croatian flutist and currently principal flutist of the Dubrovnik symphony orchestra, will perform a series of four concerts in America with the purpose of bringing the music of Croatian composers to American audiences. Some of the composers included will be Sorkocevic, Bjelinski, Kunc, Osghian, and Peter Obradovic. Her schedule is as follows:

Monday October 20, 8 p.m. at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida
For information on location/price, please contact Heather Small athsmall7@copper.net

Wednesday October 22 at the Emory Performing Arts Studio in Atlanta, Georgia
For more information, please contact Catherine Bull atdanielpyle@mindspring.com

Friday October 24, 7:30 p.m. in St. Louis, Missouri at the First Divine Church of St. Louis
located on Grand and Wyoming Admission: $10/adults, $5 students and children

For more information, please contact Jeanine York-Garesche atgaresche@juno.com

Monday October27 at 7:30 p.m. in Carbondale, Illinois in OBF Auditorium on the campus of Southern Illinois University. Free admission.

For more information, please contact Suzanne Lord atlordlord@siu.edu

Junaci Domovinskoga rata

Cijenjeni,

Nakladnicka kuca Neobicna Naklada iz Vinkovaca u proteklih je 6 godina objavila niz knjiga na temu Domovinskog rata, naseg najplodnijeg autora ove tematike Davora Runtica. Medju objavljenim knjigama su mnogi naslovi koji su izuzetno dobro prihvaceni od strane citateljstva. Nedavno smo pokrenuli biblioteku "Junaci Domovinskoga rata" u kojoj je do sada objavljeno dvije knjige, a izuzetno su dobro prihvacene. U pripremi je treca knjiga iz ovog serijala.

Takodjer, pripremamo i veliku kronologiju Domovinskoga rata u tri knjige pod zajednickim naslovom "Domovinski rat". Bit ce to jedinstvena knjiga koja ce na najopsezniji nacin prikazati sve dogadjaje koji su ratu prethodili, sam tijek rata na svim bojistima, te poslijeratno doba tzv. "mirne reintegracije" za vrijeme koje su okupatori pod zastitom mirovnih snaga UN-a nastavili pljacku i zlodjela.

Vise o svim nasim izdanjima mozete vidjeti na nasoj web straniciwww.neobicnanaklada.hr .

Zelja nam je doprijeti do sto veceg broja Hrvata sirom svijeta kako bismo nase knjige ponudili i njima. Ove knjige su vrijedno povijesno stivo koje govori o ljudima koji su cista srca stali u obranu domovine. Vecina ovih knjiga se temelji upravo na njihovim svjedocenjima koja je Davor Runtic godinama prikupljao u svim krajevima Hrvatske. Ti ljudi su danas zaboravljeni i prepusteni sami sebi. Mi mislimo kako je vrijeme o njima napokon progovoriti i jasno dati do znanja tko su pravi hrvatski junaci!

Molimo Vas za pomoc u nasem dopiranju do Hrvata svuda u svijetu koji bi bili zainteresirani za nase knjige. Ukoliko nam zelite pomoci, slobodno nam se javite na ovaj e-mail.

Zahvaljujemo se unaprijed, i lijepo Vas pozdravljamo, radujuci se buducoj suradnji!


Svako dobro!

S postovanjem,

Hrvoje Runtic,
direktor, Neobicna Naklada d.o.o.
info@neobicnanaklada.hr

'They need people to invest inCroatia'


About 500 members of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America, the largest Croatian organization in the United States, will be coming to Atlanta on Thursday for their convention. Scheduled speakers include ambassadors to the United States from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latest census reports 3,107 Croatians living in Georgia, with 2,209 of them residing in metro Atlanta.

Union President Bernard M. Luketich spoke recently with Journal-Constitution reporter Mark Bixler about the convention, conditions in Croatia and the history of Croatian-Americans. Here are excerpts:

Q: One of your members -- Rep. Dennis Kuchinich of Ohio -- is running for U.S. president. What do you think of his chances?

A: I think it's going to be very difficult, but Dennis has turned the tide in previous elections. Nobody thought he would win election as mayor of Cleveland. He's also a member of Congress. They thought that was impossible. He has something that draws people to him.

Q: If he wins, how would that affect relations between the United States and Croatia?

A: I think that would help. He's aware of what's happening between Croatia and the United States. For us as Croatian-Americans, we would certainly be very proud to have him as president of the United States.

Q: What are the major issues in Croatia today?

A: Basically, they have an economic problem. . . . They need people to invest in Croatia. They need American companies to look at the possibilities and teach them how to run a democratic country. They were under Communist rule for so many years.

Q: What kinds of business opportunities exist for American companies in Croatia?

A: There are many, many companies that do business in Croatia already, but many more are needed. The unemployment is very high in Croatia. They need jobs like everybody else.

Q: How did you choose Atlanta as a site for the convention?

A: We've had our conventions in various cities. We have a lodge in Atlanta.

Q: When did most Croatians come to this country? Where did they settle?

A: The majority came from 1900 to 1920. They settled around coal mines and steel mills, near places like Pittsburgh and Chicago. They were up in Minnesota -- anyplace where there was heavy industry.

Q: Was there an influx of Croatians coming to the United States after the war?

A: After World War II, yes, but not after the [Balkan] war in the '90s. Croatia became free and independent. People who live there are running their own country.


Q: We heard a lot about tension between Croatians, Bosnian Serbs and Muslims during war in the '90s. What is the status of relations between the three groups now?

A: It looks like the relationship is much better. They've got to depend on each other. They're neighbors.

• ON THE WEB: For more information about the Croatian union:www.croatianfraternalunion.org 


http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/atlanta_world/0903/17croatia.html?urac=n&urvf=10638095418260.7172984697846382

Mark Bixler : mbixler@ajc.com

Bulgaria, Croatia Set to Improve Balkan Region Infrastructure

 

Politics: 16 September 2003, Tuesday.
Bulgaria and Croatia are set to improve the infrastructure in South-eastern Europe as well as the transport in the region. This was announced following the meeting of Bulgaria's Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and his Croatian counterpart Ivica Racan. Both PMs also discussed transport corridors 7 and 10.

Saxe-Coburg and Racan agreed that the two countries should boost the trade and tourism cooperation.

Bulgaria's PM pledged that Bulgaria will give its unconditional support for Croatia's efforts to start EU pre-accession talks and receive an invitation to join NATO. He also pointed that common goals -- to enter the European Union (EU) and NATO -- were a good basis for cooperation in the spheres of trade and industry.

Iraq's current situation was also discussed as well as some measures for the stabilization of the country.

Bulgaria's PM is scheduled to meet the chair of the Croatian Parliament as well as Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic.

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