AMBASSADOR AND CROATIAN PRESIDENT MESIC DISCUSS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 002059 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2014 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR MARR KTIA HR SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND CROATIAN PRESIDENT MESIC DISCUSS MILITARY MOU, GOTOVINA, NATO, PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN REF: A. ZAGREB 02002 ¶B. ZAGREB 02044 Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Ralph Frank; Reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador asked Croatian President Stjepan Mesic to tone down the anti-U.S. rhetoric that has been a major element of his reelection strategy thus far. Mesic and the Ambassador also discussed the impact of Croatia's NATO accession on presidential authority over the armed forces; the Gotovina case; campaign strategy; and the case of a journalist, connected with a Mesic associate, who was allegedly interrogated by the security services. ¶2. (C) Croatian President Stjepan Mesic invited the Ambassador via an intermediary to dinner November 30 to discuss several outstanding issues. There was no publicity. Also present were Mesic's chief of cabinet Ambassador Davor Bozinovic, and informal advisors Zarko Kraljevic and Dr. Mladen Vedris (former Deputy Prime Minister). Mesic was cordial and relaxed; the meeting lasted three hours. U.S. ) Croatian MOU on Military Exercises -------------- ¶3. (C) The Ambassador told Mesic that he was concerned about the level of rhetoric Mesic and others had generated regarding the routine GOC-EUCOM MOU on military exercises signed last summer (ref A); Mesic's statements were provocative, and risked fanning anti-NATO and anti-U.S. flames; the U.S. should not become an issue in the upcoming presidential campaign, and given Mesic,s giant lead in the polls, it is completely unnecessary to "run against" the US. The Ambassador explained the substance of the MOU to Mesic, emphasized that we have similar agreements with all PfP countries, and noted that it does not obligate the GOC to do anything it does not want to do; it merely provides a framework for issues that must be discussed in preparation for military exercises. ¶4. (C) Mesic replied that his concern was the internal consultation process within the GOC, skirting the issue of his provocative statements. Gotovina Stops the Conversation -------------- ¶5. (C) Mesic asked the Ambassador's view on whether the EU would give Croatia a start date for accession negotiations at its meeting on December 17. The Ambassador replied that many EU countries shared the U.S. view that full cooperation with ICTY required the GOC to get PIFWC Ante Gotovina arrested and to The Hague. Without full cooperation, it was doubtful those EU states would support setting a date. Mesic and colleagues appeared surprised at this remark; Mesic said he believed that the GOC had done all it could on the Gotovina issues, and he was clearly not in the country at this point. The Ambassador replied that establishing Gotovina's location outside Croatia did not meet the USG test for Croatia's ICTY cooperation -- Gotovina's presence in The Hague is the benchmark; many EU countries feel the same way. It is important that the GOC understand the seriousness of the international community on this issue. NATO Accession Leads to Loss of Presidential Authority -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Mesic noted that he was concerned about a loss of presidential authority as Croatia continues the military modernization and NATO accession process. He cited the Croatian Navy's transition into a Coast Guard, and therefore no longer part of a national security organization, as a degradation of presidential authority. Likewise, the Air Force's evolution into an organization responsible for firefighting and transport is another example of a reduction of his defense responsibilities. Reelection Campaign Strategy -------------- ¶7. (C) Mesic said he was pursuing an aggressive presidential campaign not because he was worried about losing (the latest polls give him three times the percentage of his nearest challenger),but because he wants to have the biggest possible electoral mandate to help him counter the HDZ government in his term, which he believes is pursuing worrisome policies. Puljiz Case Not Freedom of the Press Issue -------------- ¶8. (C) Mesic also noted that the Puljiz case (ref B) was not really an issue of freedom of the press, but rather the government using Puljiz as a way to collect information on Mesic. Allegedly, the intel services attempted to enlist Puljiz's ongoing cooperation, not because Puljiz was a journalist, but because she had a personal relationship with then presidential advisor, and now local indictee and subject of an EU travel ban, Zeljko Bagic. ¶9. (C) Comment: Mesic's invitation to dinner/face-to-face discussion of contentious issues reflects his concern for U.S. views and his desire to make his views clearly known to us. As last president of Yugoslavia, he reflects more than a passing nostalgia for the predictability of the socialist and non-aligned period. ¶10. (C) Comment, cont'd: Mesic also is a powerful moral tiller for Croatia's move toward necessary changes in preparation for Euro-Atlantic integration. His "apology" for illegal acts committed against Serbs in the Balkan war is his most noteworthy example, but he also has been on the "right" side with respect to Croatia's role in World War II atrocities, and the offensive nature of occasional emergence of Ustashe/Nazi symbols. Most recently he has been a strong proponent of Croatian cooperation with ICTY. FRANK NNNN