By Brian Johnson - 17th January 2005
Stipe Mesic, Croatia’s newly re-elected president has called on the Balkan country to unite in its goal of becoming an EU member state.
Mesic, who won a comfortable second round victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff with 66 per cent of the vote said he intended to oversee Zagreb’s planned 2009 EU entry.
“Today Croatia is taking big steps into Europe and we now have to be united, we need a national consensus to achieve our objectives,” said Mesic according to the Croatian news agency Hina.
“I’m proud of the maturity of Croatia’s democracy. We have crossed a long way and Croatia’s democracy has confirmed this. Europe and the world can see that.”
Croatia is expected to start EU accession talks in March, providing Zagreb cooperates with a UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
Mesic’s pro western stance and cooperation with the UN tribunal was condemned by his nationalist rival Jadranka Kosor during the election.
Many of Croatia’s war veterans and nationalists had accused Mesic of betraying the country.
But his impressive victory over the autonomists will be welcomed by Europe’s capitals.
“Mesic guarantees continuity”, Reuters reported his foreign policy adviser Ivica Mastruko as saying.
“[Continuity]…with Balkan neighbours, with the European Union and with the United nations war crimes tribunal”, added Mastruko.
Mesic’s victory is an embarrassment for opposition prime minister Ivo Sander, currently in Brussels for talks with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.