Croatia - International Special Reports

On Capitol Hill

Talking points about Croatia

Esplanade hotel captures history and spirit of Zagreb

Spread the word:
Croatia is an extraordinarily safe place to visit

Mega-Yachts: the biggest status symbols in the world

Croatia Airlines:
Creating a national identity during war and peace

Hosting Pope John Paul II

Three term Democratic congressman and former mayor of Cleveland Dennis Kucinich is a second generation Croatian. On the Republican side of the aisle is four term Congressman George Radanovich of Fresno, whose grandparents were born in Croatia- a grandmother from the island of Brac, and a grandfather from the coastal city of Split. Married in the early 1900s they first moved to Chile, then on to Italy before settling in California.

Radanovich first traveled to Croatia as a Member of Congress. He has since returned three times. "I need to go back there again in order to do some further research on my grandparents," he says.

Congressman Kucinich, on the other hand, says "I’ve had several opportunities to visit Croatia, but never in an official capacity. I very much appreciate its natural beauty, especially its wonderfully dramatic coastline. Croatia should do all that it can to encourage tourism, and more Americans should take the time to discover the great beauty of this place."

Both congressmen are keenly aware of Croatia’s unfortunate geopolitical setting and are very much interested in helping the nation ascend to organizations such as NATO, which will further link it to the West. "Croatia’s stock has risen a lot since Tudjman," says Radanovich. "They’ve joined the Partnership for Peace program, given us help and support during Kosovo. I would like to point these things out to Washington, as well as to emphasize the beauty of the country and help to make Americans aware of the foreign direct investment possibilities there."

Radanovich may be making his own investment in Croatia sometime in the near future. The congressman, a California vintner, couldn’t help but be excited by the high quality, but as yet largely undiscovered, wine industry of Croatia. "I am thinking seriously that I would like to do something there someday, perhaps develop a vineyard."

107th Congress passes resolution commending Croatia

In the Senate of the United States,

Resolved, That the resolution from the House of Representatives (H. Con. Res. 251) entitled `Concurrent resolution commending the Republic of Croatia for the conduct of its parliamentary and presidential elections.’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENTS:

Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert:

That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the people of the Republic of Croatia are to be congratulated on the successful elections and the outgoing Government of Croatia is to be commended for the democratic standards with which it managed the elections;
(2) the United States should support the efforts of the new Government of Croatia to increase its work on refugee return, privatization reform, media reform, and further cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to set an example to other countries in the region;
(3) Congress strongly supports Croatia’s commitment to western democratic standards and will give its full support to the new Government of Croatia to fully implement democratic reforms; and
(4) the United States continues to promote Croatian-American economic, political, and military relations and recognizes Croatia as a loyal partner in south central Europe.