The following article appeared in the food section of the October 2,
2002 New York Times.

John Kraljic

In Astoria's Clubs, a Taste of Istria
By ED LEVINE

FROM outside, the Istria Sport Club looks like scores of other faceless,
bunkerlike buildings in Astoria, Queens. But as soon as you walk through
the door and downstairs to the dining room, you realize you've passed
through a doorway to Istria, a 1,500-square-mile arrowhead-shaped
peninsula south of Trieste, Italy, jutting into the northeastern end of
the Adriatic Sea.

Fought over for centuries by Celts, Romans, Austro-Hungarians, Germans,
Italians, Yugoslavs and Croats, Istria, most of which now belongs to
Croatia, has faced perpetual social and political transitions. Perhaps
because of the turmoil, Istrians have clung to their food, a fascinating
blend of Italian, Slavic and Hungarian influences. The cuisine also
reflects the region's geography of mountains, sea and forest.

No more than 15,000 Istrians live in New York City, club members
estimate, but you would not know it by looking at the owners of some of
the city's leading Italian restaurants.

Giuliano Ziuliani, who owns Primola on the Upper East Side, came from
Istria. So did Milan Licul of Scaletta on the Upper West Side and Ezio
Vlacich of Piccola Venezia and Joseph Honovic and Luigi Kucica of
Ponticello, both in Astoria.

Perhaps the most famous Istrian-born restaurateur is Lidia Bastianich of
Felidia in Midtown Manhattan.

But you will not find a complete menu of Istrian dishes at any of these
restaurants. Mr. Ziuliani said that while he would serve Istrian dishes
on request, "the only place to find real Istrian food in New York is at
the social clubs."

At the Istria S. C. (as its awning says), one of the two best-known
clubs in the city, groups of men sit smoking stubby De Nobili cigars and
playing briscola, an old northern Italian card game. A television set at
the bar is tuned to a soccer match. The simple whitewashed walls are
covered with photos, posters and maps of Istria.

A large dining room leads to a garden with a picnic area, boccie court
and barbecue pit where, on warm spring and summer nights, pigs are
roasted. A wall of a smaller dining room is dominated by a glass case
that is filled with trophies won by the youth and adult soccer teams
that the club sponsors.

The club is nominally private, though I found showing up hungry, curious
and cheerful to be sufficient criteria for entrance. It does not take
reservations.

There were eight in our party, and we told the chef, Anka Frankovic, a
smiling woman who said she had gone to cooking school in Croatia for
three years, that we wanted her to cook typically Istrian food for us.

The feast that followed began with dishes that might seem more
Mediterranean: creamy bacalao, dried salt cod that had been whipped into
an ultrasmooth garlic purée; tender grilled and fried calamari; and
grilled whole fish deboned by our waiter, who told us he had been on the
Croatian junior soccer team many years ago.

But then came the signature Istrian highlights, like sauerkraut studded
with meaty pork sausage and suffused with the flavor of pancetta;
feathery gnocchi with braised veal chunks ladled over them; and fuzi,
delicate little envelopes of hand-formed pasta that hold on to a
tomato-based sauce studded with tender pieces of beef and pork.

As an accompaniment to the meal, the club offers fruity Istrian wines
made from malvasia grapes. For dessert, Ms. Frankovic sent out
palacinka, Hungarian crepes filled with Nutella or jam. The bill came to
less than $35 a person.

The roots of the social clubs are centuries deep. For almost 800 years,
Istria was part of the Venetian empire. In the 20th century alone, it
was ruled by Hapsburg Austria, Italy, Germany, Yugoslavia and Croatia.

As World War II drew to a close, Istria was liberated by the combined
efforts of the Allies and Yugoslav forces led by Tito. As Tito
consolidated his power, it became clear that the Istrians of Italian
descent would no longer hold equal political and social sway with the
Yugoslavians.

Tito allowed hundreds of thousands of Istrians to return to Italy as
refugees. Some of those refugees became the first wave of Istrian
immigrants to arrive in New York.

The Istria Sport Club was founded in 1959 by people from that initial
group, and moved to its current location, 28-09 Astoria Boulevard (28th
Street), in 1975. (Information: 718-728-3181.)

"This place allows people from the old country to stay together," said
Rocky Vlasic, 57, who said he went to the club nearly every day to eat,
drink, play cards and socialize. "We are all friends here. We respect
everybody."

Ms. Bastianich, who said she always tried to offer a few Istrian dishes
on her menu at Felidia, put it another way: "Istria's always been
occupied. As a result, Istrians are insecure, they're chameleons. So
having these clubs is a survival tactic. Istrians have always felt
chased. So the clubs fulfill a deep need."

The Istria Sport Club was initially formed as a sports club to bring
together the politically and ethnically diverse segments (Croats, Slavs
and Italians) of the Istrian population that had settled in New York. In
the mid-1970's, large numbers of people from Labin, an eastern city,
came to New York. Labin is an overwhelmingly Croatian city, so they
eventually formed the Croatian-dominated Rudar Club in 1977.

Rudar, officially the United Miners Soccer Club, is tucked into an old
paint store at 34-01 45th Street, just off Northern Boulevard, in
Astoria; (718) 786-5833. The only sign on the door is the club's coat of
arms, two crossed mining hammers above a soccer ball. (Coal mining was
the major industry in Labin.)

When we arrived one night, we walked through a private party and made
our way downstairs to the cozy cellar dining room. There we met Wanda
Radetti, who leads tours of Istria. Ms. Radetti, who said she was in the
same refugee camp as Mrs. Bastianich after World War II, lives around
the corner from the club and is a regular.

The clubs, she said, are "our reaction to adversity." She continued: "We
party, eat, drink and dance. When we come here, it's like coming home.
It's the family some people don't have here."

There is no printed menu, just a board of specials, all in Croatian.
First came beef tartare, assertively seasoned with, among other things,
parsley, garlic, mustard and anchovies. Then a hearty veal soup, along
with the requisite fuzi and gnocchi. At home, Ms. Bastianich had
explained, Istrians make fuzi or gnocchi for their Sunday meal. At the
clubs, diners get the luxury of both.

Highlights at Rudar included an incredibly tender roast octopus and
potato dish, a surprisingly delicate stuffed cabbage; raznjici, which
are skewers of grilled meat that we dipped in ajvar, a red pepper sauce;
and very fine palacinka. We washed it down with Jamnica sparkling water,
which according to the label, has been bottled since 1828.

Ms. Radetti asked one of the chefs, Jasna Pusec, whether she had made
any strudel that night. Alas, she had not, but we were more than content
with the palacinka.

"People come here to get the food their grandmothers made for them,"
said Walter Cekada, president of the Rudar Club, which has 150 members.
His grandmother held passports from four countries during her life
without ever leaving Istria, he said. Mr. Cekada's goal is to make sure
the club stays relevant for the next generation of Istrian-Americans.

"We built a bar and a little club on the third floor just for the young
people," he said. Sure enough, a handful of 20-somethings were seated at
a bar on the third floor, listening to David Bowie.

At the private party, Passage, a rock band Mr. Cekada had flown in from
Istria, was playing traditional Istrian tunes on electric guitars and
keyboards. On a break, one musician told me: "In Istria, we play
American rock because that's what the tourists want to hear. It's only
when we come over here that we get to play Istrian music."

Ms. Radetti was dancing up a storm. She looked as if she did not have a
care in the world.

"Here, somebody will always care how you are," she said.

One of the most far-reaching changes in the makeup of the NBA during the 1980s and early 1990s was the arrival of a significant number of talented European players. One of the best was the late Drazen Petrovic, a two-time Olympic silver medalist who led the Croatian national team before developing into one of the NBA's top shooting guards. After four seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers and New Jersey Nets, tragedy cut Petrovic's career short when he died in an automobile accident in Germany at age 28.

Before his death, Petrovic made his mark in the NBA and around the world. To match the cool grace of urban American talents, the European newcomer brought tireless enthusiasm to the game, as illustrated by his fist-pumping in moments of triumph and furious agonizing over setbacks. He was not as strong defensively as his American counterparts, but he showed a penchant for daring three-point shooting. "I have never seen any pro or amateur player work as hard," Nets Assistant Coach Tom Newell told the New York Daily News. "He's the consummate pro in commitment and dedication."

Petrovic brought tireless enthusiasm to the game. Tim DeFrisco/NBAE/Getty Images

Petrovic had shooting skills to match his energy. In his two full seasons with New Jersey he averaged 21.4 points. In his best-and final-season, 1992-93, he led the Nets with 22.3 points per game. "Even if you were a fan of another team, you couldn't root against him," teammate Sam Bowie told the Newark Star-Ledger. "You had to be impressed by him." The son of a police chief, Petrovic grew up in Sibenik, a small port city on the Adriatic Sea. He and his brother, Aleksander, spent hours teaching themselves basketball on makeshift courts. When he was barely into his teens Petrovic began touring with the Yugoslavian national team.

He put up decent enough numbers to entice Notre Dame to try to lure him to the United States in 1984, when he was 19 years old. Two years later the Portland Trail Blazers selected him in the third round of the 1986 NBA Draft.

Petrovic led Yugoslavia to the silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. He also played for Croatia in the Yugoslav professional league, on one occasion scoring 112 points in a game. In 1988 he played in Spain for Real Madrid and promptly led the club to the European Cup championship. Offered an NBA contract by Portland, Petrovic and the Blazers bought his way out of his Spanish deal (reportedly for as much as $1.5 million).

The Croatian star's U.S. debut in the 1989-90 season proved unspectacular. His defensive skills were still raw by NBA standards, and the Trail Blazers, already solid at the two position with Clyde Drexler, found only limited use for a shooting guard who was weak on defense. In 77 games in his rookie season he averaged only 7.6 points in 12.6 minutes per game.

In the first half of the 1990-91 season the Trail Blazers kept Petrovic on the bench in 20 of 38 games before trading him to New Jersey in a three-team deal that brought Walter Davis to Portland. The Nets also used him sparingly at first, but they gave him enough playing time to improve his point production to 12.6 per game. Playing an average of 20.5 minutes in 43 games, he had one of the league's best points-per-minute ratios.

Petrovic's outside shooting won him a chance to start the next season, and he jumped to 20.6 points per game. He began to gain league-wide recognition as one of the NBA's best outside shooters, particularly from three-point range. He hit on 123 of 277 three-point attempts that season, ranking second in the NBA with a .444 percentage. Petrovic also led the Nets in field-goal shooting (.508) and free-throw shooting (.808)

In the 1992 offseason Petrovic returned to his homeland to lead the team of the newly independent Croatia to the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Again, Petrovic emerged with a silver medal. Croatia lost only to the United States Dream Team, which featured such NBA rivals as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, against whom Petrovic (playing point guard rather than shooting guard) scored 19 points.

His NBA numbers got even better in 1992-93. Besides leading the Nets in scoring (22.3 ppg), he set the team pace with a .518 field-goal percentage and a .449 three-point field-goal percentage. The media voted him to the All-NBA Third Team at season's end. Fans loved his enthusiasm and energy, and his coaches admired the fact that he devoted offseason time to improving his game, especially his defense. "You couldn't have wanted a better teammate," New Jersey Head Coach Chuck Daly told the Newark Star-Ledger. "He was very talented, he played very hard and was able to lead by his example. He was indefatigable."

But, in fact, not all his teammates admired Petrovic's style. Some Nets players, Assistant Coach Paul Silas acknowledged to The New York Times, "had a little problem with Draz. They thought he shot too much and held the ball." In addition to the locker-room backbiting, Petrovic became unhappy with New Jersey management, which was slow to renegotiate his contract.

After the Nets fell in the first round of the 1993 Playoffs, Petrovic told reporters he would probably accept a two-year offer to play pro ball in Greece; he then left for Europe to rejoin the Croatian national team in European Cup competition. Following a 30-point effort in a qualifying tournament in Poland, Petrovic detoured to Germany to visit his girlfriend. On June 7 he was en route to Munich when the car in which he was a passenger slammed into a tractor-trailer. He died instantly. He was only 28 years old.

The loss particularly stunned European fans. "It's hard for you to imagine here in America, because you have so many great players," his brother told the New York Daily News. "But we are a country of four million. Without him, basketball takes three steps back."

Late in 1993 the Nets retired Petrovic's uniform No. 3 in tribute.

Drazen Petrovic Sea. Team G Min. FG 3Pt. FT Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. Tot. PG 89-90 Portland 77 967 .485 .459 .844 111 116 23 2 583 7.6 90-91 Por-NJ 61 1015 .493 .354 .832 110 86 43 1 623 10.2 91-92 New Jersey 82 3027 .508 .444 .808 258 252 105 11 1691 20.6 92-93 New Jersey 70 2660 .518 .449 .870 190 247 94 13 1564 22.3 Career Totals: 290 7669 .506 .437 .841 669 701 265 27 4461 15.4 Playoff Totals: 29 609 .474 .324 .696 51 42 12 1 297 10.2

http://www.nba.com/history/gallery_petrovic_020920.html?curPhoto=3 

Prince Andrew's Croatia visit is under review 

A planned visit by Prince Andrew to Croatia later this week is under review, the Foreign Office says.

A spokeswoman says the review will determine whether or not this is a suitable time for a member of the Royal family to visit the country.

Prince Andrew is due in the Balkan country from Wednesday to Friday.

A British embassy official in Zagreb said: "The final decision on whether Prince Andrew will come to Croatia as scheduled or not will be given at the beginning of the week, most probably on Monday."

It's not known if a possible change to plans is in response to Croatian reluctance to hand over wanted war crimes suspect General Janko Bobetko to the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

In Sunday's edition of the Croatian daily Jutarnji List the paper claimed the cancellation of the visit would be the start of a campaign of western sanctions against the country because of the rejection of the extradition request.

Croatia claims there is no need to extradite the general as he did not commit any war crimes and had led a "legitimate military operation to free occupied Croatian territory".

The Prince is due to open a new British Embassy building in Zagreb on Wednesday - and also to inspect the Croatian naval base of Lora in the Adriatic port of Split on Thursday.

He's also scheduled to meet Croatian President Stipe Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan.


Story filed: 14:02 Sunday 29th September 2002

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_680593.html 

Mihai Radan

mirad@cdep.ro 

Chamber of Deputies
Legislature 2000 - present
Education: 
Universitate, Facultatea de Filologie. 
Ocupation: 
Profesor de limba şi literatura croată şi sârbă, secundar limba şi literatura română; 
Director şcolar; 
Director cămin cultural; 
Redactor pentru manuale şcolare; 
Primar; 
Redactor publicaţie croată. 
Political activity: 
Preşedintele Uniunii Croaţilor din România; 
Secretar General al Uniunii Croaţilor din România. 
Legislature 2000 - present 
Member of the Chamber of Deputies 
Constituency: BUCURESTI 
Political Party:
Union of Croatians in Romania
Parliamentary group:
Parliamentary Group of the National Minorities
Standing committees 
Committee for Education, Science, Youth, and Sport
Parliamentary friendship groups: 
Friendship parliamentary group with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Friendship parliamentary group with Republic of Austria
4 speeches in the plenum 
Initiator of the draft laws:
1. P.L.502/2001 pentru modificarea şi completarea Legii nr.70/1991 privind alegerile locale. 
2. P.L.417/2002 pentru modificarea şi completarea art.37 al Legii nr.53/1991 privind indemnizaţiile şi celelalte drepturi ale senatorilor şi deputaţilor, precum şi salarizarea personalului din aparatul Parlamentului României, republicată. 

Legislature: 1990-1992 | 1992-1996 | 1996-2000 | 2000-2004 
Monday , 30 september 2002, 04:55 

Legislature: 1990-1992 | 1992-1996 | 1996-2000 | 2000-2004 

Jalta poPavuni

Upravo sam se vratio s konferencije (fizicara) u Jalti, pa ukratko:

Sve strahote komunizma i manipulacije naroda boljsevizmom su ociti
na Jalti, a i u cijeloj Ukrajini, koja je najveca europska zemlja;
(usput letio sam preko Istambula - koji je posebna i opet zanimljiva prica)

Tranzicijski paradoksi: na glavnom trgu veliki spomenik Lenjinu tocno ispred
najveceg i najelitnijeg McDonalds restorana (!) koji je prepun, a u luci
veliki britanski 'crusing-ship' iz Londona prepun ostarjelih 
britanskih turista
koji su dosli vidjeti gdje su se to sastali Staljin, Churchill i Roosvelt ...

... da, ovdje se vidi povijest 20-og stoljeca mozda bolje nego drugdje ...
i odmah uocite do koje smo mjere svi bili (i ostali) manipulirani ...

Po hotelima bogati i bahati mafijasi okruzeni brojnim djevojkama
koje se vise-manje prostituiraju na sve moguce nacine, izgubljene
u kaosu tranzicijskog drustva ... a bauljajuci ''radni narod'' = sobarice
i konobari sluze (obuceni u stare socijalisticke odore tek malo
dosminkane) kako neo-bogatase tako i nas grupe ''bogatih'' stranaca
sluzbeno dovedene i placene od NATO-a ili EU i slicnih ''pomagaca'' ...

Drustvo je kapitalisticko, ali mentalitet je u prosjeku jos soc-komunisticki
i svi zale za dobrim starim vremenima ''sigurnosti'' i ''soc-glamura'',
mada mislim da se nece pokusati vratiti unatrag jer novac igru vodi
i nisam vidio neke velike zelje za novom ''boljs-revolucijom'' ...

Na cable-TV - svi kanali svijeta (bolji izbor nego u US-hotelima !),
te borba za gledatelje izmedju anglosaksonskih business kanala protiv
tzv. USA neo-krscanskih entuzijasticara (koji najavljuju kraj svijeta) ...

Ipak globalni dojam jest da su svi ti narodi velike zrtve Lenjina i grupe
avanturista koji su ih uvukli u boljsevicko-komunisticku avanturu:
Covjek ne moze ne zapitati se: a sto da su ostali carevina, te krscanska
zemlja te evoluirali u post industrijsko drustvo ...

Hrvatska je ipak u nesto BOLJOJ situaciji, mada arhetipno je sve to isto ...
... i trebat ce 1-2 generacije da de-hipnotiziramo i nasu naciju ...

... jer i Hrvatska je bila komunisticka ... pa o raznim ''vodjama'' necu ...

Svi oblici ljudskog djelovanja koji ignoriraju Ljubav Krista su uvijek
dugorocno pogubni, a komunizam sa svojim manipulacijama u 20-om
stoljecu je stravicno unazadio sve (bivse) komunisticke zemlje.

Srecom da u nama, Hrvatima, jos ipak zivi nasa Vjera i Ljubav za 
Lijepu Nasu ...

Dr. Davor Pavuna
Kristov Hrvat
http://ipawww.epfl.ch/lpme/LPMESubPages/Pavuna/pav.htm 

Dr.Vesna Bosanac

U prilogu vam saljemo javno pismo upuceno Dr. Andru Vlahusicu, Ministru
zdravstva Republike Hrvatske od strane predsjednistva Svjetskog Zbora
Hrvatskih Lijecnika.

Srdacan pozdrav,

Ivan Dikic

W.A.C.P.-BEETHOVENSTR.
39, 28209 BREMEN, GERMANY

Ministarstvo Zdravstva RH
Ministar Mr.sc.Andro Vlahusic,dr.med.
HR-10000 Zagreb
September 8, 2002

Postovani gospodine Ministre,

izrazavamo duboku zabrinutost u svezi Vaseg istupa na HTV-u i nedavnih
medijskih napada na kolegicu Dr. Vesnu Bosanac, ravnateljicu Opce
bolnice u Vukovaru. Usprkos tome sto istraga jos nije zavrsena, Dr.
Bosanac se vec javno proglasava jednim od glavnih krivaca. Ministarstvo
zdravstva Republike Hrvatske trebalo bi ciniti upravo suprotno -
funkcionirati pravno i moralno, te se ne ukljucivati u napade na
lijecnike prije nego su dostupni podaci o njihovoj krivici. Zelimo Vas
podsjetiti da je Dr. Vesna Bosanac vec prije iskazala zavidne kvalitete
pozrtvovnosti i medicinske etike posebice tijekom rata u Vukovaru. Dr.
Bosanac je herojski podnijela sva ratna zla i posljednja napustila
svoje radno mjesto zbrinjavajuci bolesne i ranjene tijekom ratnih
zbivanja na tim prostorima. 

Uslijed ovakvog nekorektnog postupka od strane Ministarstva zdravstva
Republike Hrvatske izrazavamo najostriji javni prosvjed i apeliramo na
Vas da se prestane sa napadima na Dr. Vesnu Bosanac sve dok se ne
zavrsi cijeli istrazni i pravosudni postupak. 

Predsjednistvo Svjetskog Zbora Hrvatskih Lijecnika -WACP
Predsjednik Dopredsjednik Tajnici
Prof.dr. Zeljko Bosnjak, USA Prof.dr. Ivan Dikic,
Svedska Doc.Dr. Josip Bill, Njemacka 
Prof.dr. Davor Vugrin, USA


Ivan Dikic, M.D., Ph.D.
Group Leader-Molecular Signaling Laboratory
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Husargatan 3, Box 595
S-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
tel: 46 18 160 403
fax: 46 18 160 420
Mob: 00 46 70 768 1336
e-mail: Ivan.Dikic@licr.uu.se 
http://www.icst.irb.hr 
http://www.LICR.uu.se/groups/molsign/ 

HRVATSKI CENTAR U BUENOS AIRESU

HRVATSKI DOM D.D. – HRVATSKI CENTAR U BUENOS AIRESU
EL HOGAR CROATA S.A. – CENTRO CROATA DE BUENOS AIRES
Lorenzo Lugones 4936 (1430) Ciudad de Buenos Aires – Argentina
Tel/fax 0054 11 4542 5927
e-mail: hrvatskidom@sinectis.com.ar  elhogarcroata@sinectis.com.ar 

www.croaciacomerce.com.ar     
Buenos Aires, rujan 2002.-

Proslava 50-te godisnjice Hrvatskog Doma d.d. blagoslov i otvorenjezgrade.

Sa zadovoljstvom javljamo, da je gradnja Hrvatskog Doma d.d., pri svrsetku i nadamo se, da ce u kratkom roku otvoriti vrata dionicarima, njihovim obiteljima i prijateljima. Svrha je naseg Doma, da povezuje Hrvatsku sa Argentinom, na temelju protokola i ugovora izmedju Argentine i Hrvatske o zajednickoj suradnji na kulturnom, znanstvenom, tehnickom, skolskom i turistickom polju. Nasa glavna dvorana je pripravljena za izlozbe, koncerte, konferencije , i za sve kulturne aktivnosti, da novo pokoljenje hrvatske zajednice sa argentiskim prijateljima, upozna hrvatsku bastinu. Raspolazemo sa lijepom knjiznicom u kojoj se nalazi dosta knjiga i casopisa, uglavnom tiskanih u emigraciji, koje ce biti na raspolaganju svim zainteresiranima. Molimo nasljednike starih emigranata, da bi darovali koju knjigu za nasu knjiznicu.- 
Gospodarski dio je zamisljen, da u nasim prostorijama bude stalna izlozba hrvatskih proizvoda. Svako hrvatsko poduzece iz domovine, ako je zainteresirano, moze iznajmiti jednu vitrinu i ponuditi svoje proizvode, sto bi potaknulo izvoz hrvatskih proizvoda na argentisko trziste, a Hrvatski Dom bi preuzeo promicbu i markenting. Drustveni dio raspolaze sa blagovaonicom, gdje bi se uglavnom posluzivao hrvatski jelovnik. Za vrijeme proljeca, ljeta i rane jeseni, u nasem dvoristu, na cistom zraku, ce se odrzavati razne priredbe. 
Otvorenje zgrade i proslava 50-te godisnjice utemeljenja Hrvatskog Doma ce se najprije proslaviti sa dionicarima dana 26 listopada, a 16 studenog 2002.-, Zagrebacki Nadbiskup Mnos. Josip Bozanic ce blagosloviti nasu novu zgradu i tim cinom otvoriti je za sve Hrvate i njihova drustva.

Andelko Jurun     Domagoj Galinovic     Domagoj Vlahovic
Predsjednik         Podpredsjednik        Direktor


FESTEJO 50 ANIVERSARIO DE “ EL HOGAR CROATA S. A.”
Inauguración nueva sede

Con agrado les comunicamos que, la construcción del edificio de propiedad de El Hogar Croata S.A., está por finalizarse y en poco tiempo más, abrirá sus puertas a los accionistas, a sus parientes y amigos. Es nuestro deseo intensificar un acercamiento entre Croacia y Argentina cumpliendo así el “Convenio de Cooperación cultural y educativo” entre Argentina y Croacia, que fomenta la colaboración entre organizaciones culturales, científicas, técnicas, educativas y turísticas de ambos países. Contamos con un amplio salón principal, donde se podrán celebrar eventos culturales, exposiciones, conciertos, conferencias, especialmente dirigidas a descendientes croatas y sus amigos, para que conozcan Croacia, sus tradiciones milenarias y sus costumbres. Disponemos también, de una biblioteca, con libros en idioma croata y castellano, (con agrado recibiremos donaciones de libros). 
El sector económico o intercambio comercial, comenzará desarrollándose, con una exposición permanente de productos de empresas croatas, por medio de vitrinas. 
Los eventos sociales o reuniones con almuerzos o cenas, se desarrollarán en un amplio salón, en un ambiente agradable, donde se servirán entre otras, la típica comida croata. Durante la primavera, el verano y temprano otońo, se utilizará el amplio patio y el jardín al aire libre. La inauguración del edificio y la conmemoración de los 50 ańos de nuestra sociedad, se festejará en primer lugar con los accionistas el día 26 de Octubre y luego el 16 de noviembre de 2002, se procederá a la bendición del mismo, con la participación del Arzobispo de la ciudad de Zagreb Mnos. Josip Bozanic y con este acto, oficialmente se inaugura el nuevo edificio.

Andelko Jurun     Domagoj Galinovic     Domagoj Vlahovic
Presidente          Vicepresidente            Director


Buenos Aires, Septiembre de 2002

St. Paul Parish 100th Anniversary 
Sunday October 6, 2002

St. Paul Parish is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a Mass starting at
10:00 a.m., followed by a celebration at the Cardinal Stepinac Croatian
National Lodge starting at 2:00 p.m. Tickets can be bought either at the
parish of from parish council members for $25. Archbishop Msgr. Ivan Devcic,
of the Rijeka-Senj Archdiocese along with Msgr. Milan Simcic will be special
guests of honor along with many other guests from Croatia and the Diaspora.
For more information, contact
Marko Spiranvic at: Spirama@aol.com. 

CroNetwork: The Croatian-American Organization for Young Professionals.

Gen. Janko Bobetko

Op-ed

People treat you the way you treat yourself. Other nations willtreat us the way we treat our own people. Our war was freedom driven andsuccessful. There are not too many questions that should be asked. Even more,mercy was our strength. Imagine if our soldiers did  what they really felt freeingKrajina. Oppression breeds hate. We passed this test with flying colors aftercenturies of terror against us. When someone raise a hand against you they losealmost all rights. We want war reparations from Serbia and a special status forour Croatian minority in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro ! We won the war.We ask questions ! Period.

Nenad Bach

Editor in chief, CROWN

Prime minister: Croatia will not extradite wartime army chief to the U.N. court 
Mon Sep 23, 1:40 PM ET
By EUGENE BRCIC, Associated Press Writer 

ZAGREB, Croatia - Croatia's prime minister said Monday his government will not extradite a wartime army chief to the U.N. war crimes tribunal, even at the risk of international sanctions. 



Prime Minister Ivica Racan told reporters that his Cabinet concluded "we cannot act upon the arrest warrant" for Gen. Janko Bobetko, which was officially delivered to the government earlier in the day by the court in The Hague ( news - web sites), Netherlands. 

"We will not budge from this position and we will pursue all means at our disposal  legal, political and diplomatic" to oppose the indictment, Racan said. The indictment charges Bobetko, 83, with commanding a 1993 operation in which at least 100 Serbs were killed. 

Racan said the government would officially respond to the tribunal later this week. 

Racan's remarks reflect a shift in his pro-Western government's dealings with the court and the foreign governments that support it. Up to now, Croatia has said it was committed to full cooperation. 

But the indictment against Bobetko, the leading figure of Croatia's 1991 war for independence and the highest-ranking Croat to be accused of war crimes, has caused an uproar in this country of 4.5 million, where Croat fighters are widely regarded as national heroes. 

War here erupted in 1991, when the country's Serbs, backed by the Yugoslav army, took up arms to rebel against Croatia's secession from former Yugoslavia. The rebels then seized a third of the country, territory that Zagreb recaptured four years later. 

Bobetko is charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. 

Tribunal prosecutors claim that Bobetko knew his troops were killing Serbs and devastating their villages in a Serb-dominated area known as the Medak pocket, and failed to prevent or punish the crimes. 

"Our fight was just and legitimate," Raccan said, adding: "No one has a right to incriminate our struggle for independence, not even The Hague tribunal." 

Historical Premier 

of

Nikola Šubic Zrinjski 
by
Ivan pl. Zajc

Opera Mississauga
2002-2003 Season

(Traditional Croatian National Opera)
October 5, 6 (m), 8, 10 & 12, 2002 8:00pm
(Student Preview October 2, 7:00pm) 
REZERVACIJE KARATA, TICKET RESERVATION
(905) 306-0060

cijene ulaznica: price:
$36 - $104

Op-ed

Support this historic moment. Go toToronto/Mississauga with buses. There is still time to organize it. NB