CROATIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON PUTIN VISIT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000596 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2017 TAGS: ENRG ECON PREL HR RS SUBJECT: CROATIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON PUTIN VISIT, ENERGY SUMMIT REF: ZAGREB 404 Classified By: DCM Greg Delawie for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) DCM met with Tomislav Jakic, foreign policy advisor to Croatian President Mesic, on June 15 to discuss Russian President Putin's upcoming visit to Zagreb. Putin will visit Zagreb on June 24 to participate in a "Regional Energy Summit" organized by President Mesic's office. DCM inquired about the planned summit declaration that Jakic mentioned during a previous discussion of the visit (reftel). Jakic expressed frustration at the difficulty of agreeing on a text, which he said that the Croatian side had hoped would be a statement of principles that would avoid mention of specific projects. He said that rather than signing the declaration, as originally planned, the text would simply be "endorsed" by the gathered heads of state and government. However, as there was yet no agreement on the language, he anticipated a meeting at the experts level on the eve of the summit to agree on a text. Speaking obliquely to Russian edits to the draft text, Jakic said that the Russians have "overly eager English translators." ¶2. (C) Comment: Putin's visit to Zagreb has been initiated and organized entirely from the President's office and has involved no governmental experts on energy issues. Although Jakic said that he anticipates that PM Sanader will have a bilateral meeting with Putin while he is in Croatia, the Government has otherwise not been involved in either the conception or organization of the visit. President Mesic, who relishes the limelight, views the summit as the beginning of a process of regional consultation on energy issues. In addition to regional leaders, the Croatians also expect representatives of the EU and OPEC to attend. BRADTKE