PRESIDENT MESIC'S SECOND INAUGURAL SPEECH --

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000273

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV HR
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MESIC'S SECOND INAUGURAL SPEECH --
CROATIA UNITED, AND ALL BUT NON-ALIGNED

REF: ZAGREB 262


1. (U) President Mesic's second inaugural speech (ref a) was
classic Mesic -- soaring rhetoric delivered in simple
language. While claiming that the election results validated
his policies, Mesic also reached out to those that did not
vote for him. Addressing neighboring states, Mesic noted
that some obstacles to cooperation were on Croatia's side,
some on their side. He called for cooperation "on the path
towards a united Europe, because this path is our common
one!" Mesic spoke eloquently of the need to confront the
past: "Let us not allow our past to frustrate our path to the
future. However, let us not pass over the past in silence.
And perhaps more importantly, let us not falsify the past,
neither that of yesterday nor the recent one...Let us summon
our courage to face up to the truth, the truth about
ourselves and then only about others." He reached out to
"all those who fled the country or were forced to leave their
homes, to return in peace and security."


2. (SBU) On foreign policy, Mesic claimed credit for leading
Croatia out of isolation. While noting that terrorism was a
global menace, in what was generally seen as a dig against
the Iraq war, he alluded to "the not always suitable methods
being employed in the fight against this evil of our times."
While asserting that Croatia was among the first to call for
a global anti-terrorist alliance, Mesic lectured "we shall
continue to demand that everything be in line with the United
Nations Charter and under the mandate of the world
organization." In a remark reminiscent of the old
Yugoslav-led non-aligned movement, Mesic said "the world I
dream of is a world where war will not be the rule and peace
will not be the exception, a world where development will not
be privilege, but rather a right, a world where the great and
the mighty will prove their power by helping the small and
the weak instead of dominating them."


3. (U) The press -- for the most part approvingly -- noted
that Mesic continued to define an "independent" foreign
policy. One daily's headline was "Mesic Attacked Bush's
Fight Against Terrorism." In press interviews over the
weekend, Mesic reiterated his determination not to send
troops to Iraq, saying "we are not in NATO yet, and once we
are, we would have to discuss it (sending troops to Iraq)."
He repeated his often heard concern about possible damage to
Croatia's tourist-based economy of a single retaliatory
terrorist attack.
FRANK


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