Croatia, U.S. Sign Agreement on Protection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, and Agreement on Cooperation with the Library of Congress                      

Washington, D.C., February 1-9, 2005 – During his visit to the United States, Croatian Minister of Culture Božo Biškupić signed an agreement between the U.S. and the Republic of Croatia on cultural cooperation, as well as an agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Clulture of Croatia and the Library of Congress. Talks held with U.S. officials also focused on U.S.-Croatia political relations.

The agreement on cooperation reached between the U.S. Library of Congress and the Croatian Ministry of Culture was signed in Washington on February 7, 2005. This agreement, which envisages the provision of the Library of Congress with Croatian literature, was signed by Croatian Culture Minister Božo Biškupić and Chief Librarian of the Library of Congress, Mr. James Billington.

The Ministry of Culture will encourage efforts to provide the Library of Congress with Croatian books on history, science, literature, theology and other areas, as well as with Croatian magazines.

At the signing ceremony, Minister Biškupić presented  officials  of  the  Library  with  several books on the history of Croatian culture. After the signing of the agreement, Minister Biškupić held a lecture on Croatia's cultural identity, “The Role of Culture and Cultural Policy in the Transition Process in Croatia”.

The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the world's largest treasury of knowledge and creation with more than 28 million books and other written material in 460 languages. The library also has the world's largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, written music materials and audio recordings.

On Wednesday, February 9, the Croatian government and the U.S. administration in Washington, D.C., signed an agreement on the protection and preservation of cultural properties and the protection of cultural heritage of mutual interest. The agremment was signed in the White House Indian Treaty Room by Croatian Minister of Culture Božo Biškupić and the head of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of American Cultural Heritage abroad, Mr. Warren Miller.