NATO SYG SAYS ALL THE RIGHT THINGS IN ZAGREB

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000821 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MARR NATO HR DEFENSE REFORM SUBJECT: NATO SYG SAYS ALL THE RIGHT THINGS IN ZAGREB ¶1. SUMMARY AND COMMENT: NATO SYG Hoop de Scheffer, in Zagreb for six hours July 6, met President Mesic and PM Sanader, and reassured the press about NATO's readiness for Croatian membership "as soon as Croatia is ready." The SYG's visit reinforced the GOC's efforts to educate its public about the responsibilities and privileges of NATO membership. Even President Mesic, known for referring in the past to the NATO "Pact", struck a positive note (and was careful to use the word "Alliance") in publicly identifying NATO membership as strongly in Croatia's national interest. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. ¶2. After meeting President Mesic in Zagreb July 6, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the press that SIPDIS invitations for NATO membership will not be distributed at a summit in Riga at the end of November, but he expects that Croatia will be given a strong and encouraging signal in Riga. President Mesic told reporters that he and the SYG had discussed Croatia's aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic associations as soon as possible. Stressing that the issue of NATO membership was not currently of great interest to the Croatian public, Mesic said this was because "when one speaks of Euro-Atlantic integration, this is almost always interpreted as joining the EU". He added, "Joining NATO is in the interest of our security, the protection of certain values, and the most favorable solution for Croatia is to realize both objectives." Mesic also noted the Croatian public needs to be informed of the benefits of joining both NATO and the EU. De Hoop Scheffer stressed that this was a government responsibility, to inform the public of the benefits of NATO membership, adding that the alliance would help in that. He also said Croatia must continue implementing reforms and fight corruption. He commended the great progress made to date in Croatia's effort to join Euro- Atlantic associations and called for this to continue. ¶3. Following his meeting with PM Ivo Sanader, de Hoop Scheffer also underscored Croatia's great progress on the path to NATO membership, and asserted that it can hope to receive positive signals at the Riga summit. He added there was still work that needed to be done, primarily in the strengthening of Croatia's public support regarding the country's ambitions to enter NATO and the continuation of reforms and fight against corruption. PM Sanader told the press, "For us, NATO represents a community that is committed to the same values as the EU. That is a community of countries that Croatia wants to join and must join." PM Sanader noted that he had informed Scheffer of efforts Croatia was making to advance cooperation in the region, notably through the transformation of CEFTA and its presidency of the SEECP, as well as the country's participation in NATO's trust fund for the reintegration of defense personnel in Bosnia-Herzegovina into civil society. The PM also noted that a conference on security issues will be held at the beginning of next week in Dubrovnik. The NATO Secretary General said the alliance highly appreciated Croatia's leading role in the region, stressing that Croatia also gave its contribution to safety and security by participating the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Mission in Afghanistan. ¶4. Commenting on a reporter's question, de Hoop Scheffer said it was entirely untrue that NATO could ask new candidate countries to increase the number of soldiers in NATO missions in return for membership. Asked to comment on information that there would be no NATO enlargement in 2008 either, Scheffer said he also had read that, adding that one should not believe such reports. The Croatian PM told reporters that the reason for lower public support for Croatia's membership in NATO was the fact that the alliance was equated with the intervention in Iraq. It is primarily the duty of the government, as well as of all political leaders in the country to explain to the public that this is not the case and to inform them of the importance of NATO membership, Sanader said. He expressed conviction Croatia would achieve this goal, stressing that a positive signal from Riga was necessary. Bradtke