Zagreb, May 9, 1999 (IKA) – On May 7, representatives of European and American branches of Caritas met in Zagreb with Caritas representatives from Albania, Macedonia and Yugoslavia on the premises of the Croatian Conference of Bishops in Zagreb to discuss assistance and continued donations to the Kosovar refugees. The director of the Albanian branch of Caritas, Segundo Tejado, emphasized that today in Albania there are over 400,000 refugees and that the Catholic Church is caring for 30,000 of them. He said that they are overwhelmed by the amount of humanitarian assistance arriving daily in Albania and thanked Croatia and Europe for this assistance. The representative of Caritas International, Karel Zelenka, the assistant coordinator for emergency situations, pointed out that Caritas went into action immediately after the beginning of the NATO military strikes. He added that of the planned 15 million American dollars, approximately 9 million dollars worth has been collected so far and new collection drives for donations have been announced. The representative of European Caritas, Denis Vienot, explained the importance of such meetings, because good coordination is a precondition for achieving good results. The representative of Croatian Caritas, Archbishop Ivan Prenđa of Zadar, expressed his satisfaction that Croatian Caritas has been entrusted with the honor of hosting such a significant meeting. After the meeting, a press conference was held, at which Archbishop Prenđa announced that it is necessary to begin thinking about the second phase of assistance for the refugees from Kosovo. He pointed out that “in this phase, the refugees will need assistance for returning and lodging, for renewal and reconnecting families.” The conference participants included Segundo Tejado, Karel Zelenka, Denis Vienot and the representative of the Skadar branch of Caritas, Luciano Avgusti. The head of Albanian Caritas, Segundo Tejado, stated that the humanitarian crisis will last a long time. “If the war ended today, the crisis would last a year or two longer,” said Tejado, noting that Albania is in danger of being overwhelmed by charitable assistance. According to him, assistance should arrive gradually. “The most impoverished nation in Europe, the Albanians, are being confronted with the greatest crisis since the Second World War,” stated Tejado. Luciano Avgusti said that in Skadar there are 40,000 refugees and the situation in that city is very difficult. According to Denis Vienot, Albanian Caritas has received assistance from over twenty European associations.