AMBASSADOR'S TOUR D'HORIZON WITH PRESIDENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000103 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV CASC HR SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S TOUR D'HORIZON WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Frank for reasons 1.4(b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador met 23 January with Budimir Loncar, President Mesic's foreign policy advisor and a long-time Mesic advisor and confidant. Loncar delivered a letter from Mesic to President Bush (to be pouched to EUR/SCE) seeking public support and joint "sponsorship" of efforts to commemorate 2006 as the "Year of Nikola Tesla" in honor of Tesla's 150th birthday. On the Ambassador's agenda were property restitution, Open Skies, Article 98 and public support in Croatia for NATO membership. Loncar is one of Mesic's oldest (literally: he will be 82 on April 1) colleagues, and served as last foreign minister of YUGOSLAVIA while Mesic was the last President. He was going to lunch with the President following his meeting with the Ambassador. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) Property restitution: Loncar asked that the USG "hold off" on our push to bring a team to Zagreb to negotiate an agreement allowing access for the remaining few U.S. citizens not already coverd by Bilateral Agreements to existing property restitution procedures. He indicated that the Government, Constitutional court and the President were currently consulting on this issue (made complicated by the highly politicized claims of Austrians and Italians); Loncar hoped that a consensus could be reached to allow U.S. citizens access to the law without a separate bilateral agreement. ¶3. (SBU) Open Skies: The Ambassador urged Croatia's entering into an Open Skies Agreement, noting a number of benefits to Croatia of such an agreement (also laid out by Amb and Econ officers to the head of state-owned Croatia Air the week before). ¶4. (C) Article 98: The Ambassador reminded Loncar that President Mesic had several times earlier made a commitment to re-examine this issue once the remaining Croatian PIFWC was in the Hague. The Ambassador emphasized that the treaty of Rome made clear provision for these agreements, and stressed that they could take many different formats, such as joint signature of a paper or an exchange of diplomatic notes. Because Mesic professes a great respect for the UN (e.g. he opposes troops to Iraq because it is not a "UN operation"),the Ambassador underscored USG concerns with the ICC as not subordinate to the UNSC. ¶5. (C) Croatian public support for NATO: The Ambassador noted that President Mesic, in his annual New Year's address to the foreign diplomatic community, had not reiterated last year's clear statement of support for Croatia's NATO membership. Diplomats and the press had noted the omission. At first, Loncar dismissed this concern, referring to "plenty of time in view of the" supposed 2008 invitation date. The Ambassador advised him that this timeline was misleading because decisions on the aspirants' preparations and readiness for membership were necessarily being made now, in early 2006. Particularly where polling showed weak public support, the Allies were scrutinizing this issue. The Ambassador urged Loncar to suggest that President Mesic speak out in favor of NATO membership at the earliest opportunity. FRANK