PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR CONFIRMS PUTIN CROATIA VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000404

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2017
TAGS: PREL ENRG HR RS
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR CONFIRMS PUTIN CROATIA VISIT


Classified By: DCM Greg Delawie for reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: Tomislav Jakic, Foreign Policy Advisor to
Croatian President Mesic, confirmed in an April 23 meeting
with DCM that Russian President Putin will visit Croatia June
23-24. The centerpiece of the visit will be a regional
energy summit that the GOC has organized, inviting heads of
state from all the ex-Yugoslav countries, Albania, Greece,
Bulgaria and Romania, in addition to reps from the EU and
OPEC. End Summary.


2. (C) DCM met with Croatian presidential advisor Tomislav
Jakic on April 23 to clarify rumors that have been
circulating in the Croatian press for weeks regarding a
possible visit to Croatia by Russian President Putin. Jakic
confirmed that Croatian President Mesic had invited Putin to
Croatia and that the Croatian side was "ninety percent sure
he will come." According to Jakic, Putin will spend two days
in Croatia, with a bilateral program on June 23 and then
participate in a regional energy summit in Zagreb on June 24.
Jakic said that he understood from the Russian side that
Putin would also visit other countries in the region after
Croatia.


3. (C) Anticipating the question of how this meeting would
further the cause of securing energy supplies for the region,
Jakic said that the GOC was working on a declaration that
will affirm the right of all states to purchase energy under
free market conditions and condemn the use of energy for
political purposes. He said that the Russians had accused
Croatia of an anti-Russian bias in business lately, which he
said was false and simply symptomatic of larger Croatian
problems in handling relations with foreign investors.


4. (C) Comment: The initiative for the Putin visit appears to
have come from the presidential administration. The Prime
Minister is, in fact, concerned about growing Russian
economic influence in the region, a point he recently shared
with Ambassador. President Mesic, however, has been much
more supportive of Russian projects, including the
Druzhba-Adria oil pipeline, of which he appears to be one of
the few remaining supporters in Croatia. Jakic denied that
Putin would come with any strings attached on energy
projects. End Comment.
BRADTKE