ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT- JUNE 26

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000387 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL HR SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT- JUNE 26 ¶1. (U) BOSNIAN COURT REJECTS EXTRADITION REQUEST FOR GLAVAS: A Bosnian Court on June 23 rejected a request from the Croatian Ministry of Justice for the extradition of convicted war criminal Branimir Glavas due to his possession of Bosnian citizenship. The court found that the BiH Criminal Procedure Code does not allow the extradition of its citizens. The decision will be reviewed by an appellate court. A separate legal process is underway which might strip Glavas of his Bosnian citizenship, which could also allow for his extradition to Croatia. (VDjukic) ¶2. (U) DIRECTOR OF MARSHALL CENTER VISITS CROATIA: On June 22-25 the Embassy's Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) and the George C. Marshall Center Alumni Club of Croatia hosted the visit to Zagreb of Dr. John Rose, Director of the Marshall Center. During his trip, Dr. Rose discussed current and future cooperation between the Marshall Center and Croatia with a number of senior figures in the GoC including Minister of Defense Vukelic, Minister of Interior Karamarko, MFA State Secretary Bozinovic, and MP Kresimir Cosic, the Head of Croatia's to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Dr. Rose also gave a well-received talk on likely directions in defense and foreign policy in the new Administration to Marshall Center alumni. (D'Amico) ¶3. (SBU) EUCOM HOSTS COALITION MOVEMENT CONFERENCE IN ZAGREB: EUCOM hosted in Zagreb a Coalition Movement Conference from June 16-19. The Conference was attended by 65 officers and non-commissioned officers, including U.S. transportation experts and participants from 18 partner nations: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain. The agenda included briefings and discussions on deployment practices and process improvements presented by several Department of Defense transportation agencies and Combatant Commands. Brigadier General Mate Ostovic, Commander, Croatian Armed Forces Support Command, provided opening remarks, warmly receiving the participants who represented both NATO and Partnership for Peace nations. The annual forum is organized by EUCOM's European Deployment and Distribution Operations Center (EDDOC),and hosted by a sponsor nation on a rotating basis throughout the EUCOM Area of Responsibility. (Davis) ¶4. (SBU) INL AND EUCOM REPS VISIT CROATIA: The Embassy and local ICITAP Program Manager hosted a visit on June 15-18 from Alexandra Pomeroy of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and Tom Murray from the U.S. European Command (EUCOM). The purpose of the visit was to learn more about the ICITAP projects in Croatia and key issues in the justice sector. The visitors met with a number of officials in the law enforcement community including the Chief State Prosecutor, the Head of the Police Academy, the Head of the Crime Directorate, the Head of the Office for the Suppression of Organized Crime and Corruption, and experts from the Department for Suppression of Narcotics. (VDjukic) ¶5. (SBU) POPULATION, REFUGEE, AND MIGRATION VISIT SUCCESSFUL: On June 16-19 the Embassy hosted a visit by Matt Johnson, Program Manager for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM) Balkan Office, and Aida Kuric, regional Refugee Assistant from Embassy Belgrade. The visit focused on Croatia's efforts to conclude the process of refugee returns to the country. The PRM visitors met with key government officials including the chief of Deputy PM Uzelac's cabinet and the Director for Areas of Special State Concern, who provided an update on the status of housing care programs. The trip included a UNHCR-organized field visit to the Sisak area, where returns have been most active. The OSCE Office in Zagreb and the European Commission discussed the government's progress in meeting housing care benchmarks, while leading Serb MP Milorad Pupovac talked about the successes and difficulties in cooperating with their ruling coalition partner HDZ. The guests were also able to attend a UNHCR conference marking World Refugee Day where President Mesic appeared as one of the key note speakers. (MJelenc) BRADTKE