President Milanović opens 46th edition of the Interliber Book Fair

The Interliber International Book Fair opened on Tuesday in the national capital. More than 300 exhibitors from Croatia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, The Netherlands and The United States, have packed the 13 000 square meters of the fairgrounds, which will also host numerous additional events on the margins of the fair.

Opening this year's 46th edition of Interliber, for which Hungary is the country in focus this year, Croatian President Zoran Milanović recalled the centuries-old Croatian-Hungarian relations, which in spite of linguistic diversity, has achieved a high level of cultural penetration. He emphasized that he especially enjoys a dose of "healthy Hungarian skepticism" and added that today's Europe rests on mutual differences.

"With the Hungarians, we have an incredible point of contact that we do not have, I think, with any other neighboring nation. If you are a small nation, such as us Croats, only neighboring nations can serve as strategic partners. This is the reach, vision and visibility of our strategy. Our strategic partners cannot be far away, because the eye can't reach that far. We don't have a connection of this kind with any other nation. The cultures are very similar, the languages are different, in fact they couldn't be more different. On these foundations and the foundations of what was built in Croatian-Hungarian relations over the centuries, on all of the misunderstandings, clarifications, conflicts and reconciliations, on everything that separated us, today we are building, I believe, beautiful, healthy relations, with a minimum of skepticism, but also good faith," Milanović said.

In his address prominent Hungarian writer Péter Nádas warned of growing problems in the relationship between modern man, financial centers of power and technology, while the Hungarian ambassador to Croatia, Csaba Demcsák, recalled the centuries-old ties between Croats and Hungarians and praised the existing level of mutual cultural and political cooperation. For his part Deputy State Secretary and representative of the Hungarian Minister of Culture and Innovation Gabor Csaba called for the strengthening of Croatian-Hungarian cultural cooperation.

The president of the Association of Publishers and Booksellers, Slavko Kozina, said that Interliber has always been stable in terms of quantity, which means 120 000 domestic and foreign visitors, but over the past ten years, it has also been raising the quality of its excellent program: "This year, the country in focus is Hungary. Serious writers, scientists, a lot of comic books, and a lot of antique titles, as well as a lot of new titles. Publishers do a good job taking into consideration that we as an industry are growing by 8% and that our market is stable."

Interliber will run until November 17 th, featuring expert gatherings, panels and round tables, lectures, plays for children and musical performances. Working hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday are from 10 AM to 8 PM, and on Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 9 PM. Entrance to Interliber is free for all visitors, as is parking around the Zagreb Fair.

Source: HRT