Ambassador Jurica on Tour of West Coast of U.S.

Washington, D.C., October 19, 2004 – Croatian Ambassador Neven Jurica visited the West Coast of the United States in the past week. Ambassador Jurica met with distinguished American and Croatian business and political leaders in California and the state of Washington.

In Washington’s chief city, Seattle, Ambassador Jurica took part in the Croatian community’s Croatian Independence Day celebration and held meetings with Washington state’s political leaders. He was presented with an Honorary Washington State Citizenship by Secretary of State of Washington, Mr. Sam Reed.

At the start of his visit to California, Ambassador Jurica met with Ms. Heidi Khun, President of the international humanitarian organization Roots of Peace, whose initiative contributed to clearing war-effected villages in Croatia of land mines. In the previous month, Ms. Khun was in Croatia with a CNN crew, which filmed a report on de-mining success stories in Croatia, about Croatia’s tourist industry in general and Croatian wines. The report was aired on CNN’s program “Global Solutions” throughout the month of October.

During his visit to California, Ambassador Jurica also met with U.S. House of Representatives members Mr. George Radanovich and Mr. Dana Rohrabacher, with whom he discussed the formation of a Croatian Club within the U.S. Congress. The purpose of the club would be to promote Croatia’s political interests and priorities in Congress, and also to strengthen cooperation between Croatia and the United States. Ambassador Jurica said, “the establishment of a Croatian Club within the U.S. Congress was agreed upon, and as a result of this Croatia will have an organized, strong and influential group of friends inside the U.S. Congress.”

Ambassador Jurica visited Croatians in San Francisco, San Pedro and San Jose, whom he urged to “find the property of their ancestors, register and renovate it, as this will lead to a revitalization of the coast and islands.”

In Los Angeles, the Croatian Ambassador met with Mr. Branko Lustig, world-renowned motion picture director who was born in Croatia. In addition, Ambassador Jurica held talks with members of “Grupa 100” from California, who are preparing significant investments in Croatia. This organization was officially founded in July among most successful Croatian business leaders in Diaspora and its purpose is to strengthen the Croatian economy through investment.

At the conclusion of his visit of the West Coast, Ambassador Jurica remarked that his tour of this region was a contribution to strengthening Croatian economic and political interests in the United States, particularly because of his meetings with parties “interested in possibilities of investing in Croatia.”