US embassy cable - 03ZAGREB2676

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 002676 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, HR, Political Parties/Elections 
SUBJECT: NOW PRESENTING CROATIA'S NEW GOVERNMENT - SANADER 
CONFIRMED AS PM 
 
Classified By: Poloff A.F.Godfrey for reasons 1.5 (b,d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. (C) Croatia's newly-constituted parliament confirmed Ivo 
Sanader as Prime Minister On December 23.  The parliament 
also voted confidence in Sanader's ministerial appointments. 
The new cabinet will have 15 members, including Sanader and 
two deputy Prime Ministers, a sharp change from Racan's 
cumbersome 24-member cabinet.  Sanader's lineup shows he took 
pains to avoid nominations with too much baggage from the 
corrupt, nationalist Tudjman-era HDZ.  But that means some of 
the new ministers -- including those in key positions -- will 
be outsiders, who may be slow to trust their staff and may 
have little understanding of ongoing reform processes.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (C) On December 21, PM-Designate and HDZ President Ivo 
Sanader named his new cabinet.  As promised, the new 
government will be smaller than its predecessor, with only 15 
members.  Because Sanader proposed to change the Croatian 
bureaucracy so dramatically, the new parliament had to get 
down to business on December 22, the day it was sworn in. 
Over the objections of the opposition, the HDZ-led parliament 
passed changes to legislation which combine ministerial 
portfolios and change the structure of the government.  The 
coalition led by Sanader's HDZ does not have a majority in 
parliament, but these first legislative changes show that the 
political deals he made in the month since parliamentary 
elections are holding. 
 
3.  (C) Despite his party's strong showing in elections, 
Sanader had trouble forming his coalition; this is reflected 
in the shape of his government.  The HSLS -- which won only 
two seats in parliament -- reportedly refused Sanader's offer 
of a ministerial appointment. The only member of the new 
government from a party other than the HDZ is Vesna 
Skare-Ozbolt, Croatia's new Justice Minister. 
 
4.  (C) Even before the November 23 elections, Sanader told 
the Ambassador that his new government would not include 
figures from the bad old days of Tudjman's HDZ.  He has kept 
this commitment, but at the cost of appointing some outsiders 
who have little experience on the Zagreb political scene. 
These appointees will likely be slow to trust senior-level 
ministry staff appointed during Racan's tenure and will be 
ignorant of some key reform programs still underway. 
 
5.  (C) The changes in the structure of the government are 
far-reaching and will take time to implement.  Sanader has 
pledged to slash the number of independent government 
agencies and offices which had proliferated during the Racan 
government.  In an attempt to make the government bureaucracy 
more efficient, he has done away with the position of Deputy 
Minister (a political appointment) and introduced the 
position of state secretary, a professional position which 
does not require parliamentary approval.  Plans include 
creation of four new "at-large" state secretaries to ensure 
sensitive projects move forward promptly. 
 
6.  (C) While most observers of Croatian politics are by now 
familiar with HDZ president Ivo Sanader, we offer the 
following thumbnail sketches of the new Prime Minister's 
Cabinet to give an outline of the new Croatian Government. 
 
Prime Minister Ivo Sanader 
-------------------------- 
7.  (C) A polished, eloquent salesman, Sanader (age 50) led 
his HDZ party to a sweeping victory in the November 23 
parliamentary elections less than four years after the HDZ 
was ejected from government.  Sanader sees himself as a 
mainstream conservative in both the European and American 
sense, with all the contradictions that implies.  On one 
hand, he wants to cut the size of government and cut taxes, 
while on the other, he wants to protect domestic markets and 
look after pensioners.  He is eager to present the HDZ as 
reformed and capable of making progress toward integration in 
the EU and NATO.  Sanader is fluent in English, German and 
Italian. 
 
Jadranka Kosor, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of 
Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
8.  (C) The only woman in the senior ranks of the patriarchal 
HDZ, Kosor has become a strong political player in her own 
right.  A former journalist, she became politically active 
when she covered Croat refugee issues during Croatia's 
"homeland war."  Kosor adds a human, even glamorous face to 
the traditionally hard-line HDZ, and her approach to the 
public is shaped by her status as a single mother caring for 
an elderly, infirm parent.  Most observers are still puzzled 
as to what the "intergenerational solidarity" part of her 
portfolio means, but all are certain it was included as part 
 
 
of a package which won Sanader the support of the three MP's 
from the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU). 
 
Andrija Hebrang, Deputy PM 
Minister of Health and Social Welfare 
------------------------------------- 
9.  (C) A long-time member of the HDZ, Hebrang served as 
Minister of Health and (briefly) as Minister of Defense 
during the Tudjman era.  A bit of a political loose cannon, 
Hebrang is apt to say whatever is on his mind and think of 
consequences later.  Deeply conservative, Hebrang's 
prominence during the campaign helped the HDZ keep those 
nationalist voters who might not have supported Sanader's 
more progressive message.  By appointing Hebrang as Deputy 
Prime Minister, Sanader shows respect to his party's right 
wing.  By giving him the Health and Social Welfare 
portfolios, Sanader clearly hopes to keep Hebrang from making 
policy which could negatively affect Croatia's EU and NATO 
integration.  A cardiac radiologist who has published a 
number of scientific works, Hebrang is one of Croatia's 
leading physicians and continued to see patients daily 
throughout his prior appointments. 
 
Miomir Zuzul, Minister of Foreign Affairs 
----------------------------------------- 
10.  (C) A highly experienced diplomat and one of Sanader's 
closest advisers, Zuzul's appointment was certain even before 
the election campaign began.  Zuzul remained in Washington 
after his assignment as Croatia's Ambassador to the U.S. as a 
consultant for Livingston/Moffett.  His close ties to the 
U.S. and his eagerness to improve bilateral relations have 
drawn some criticism from the local press which suggests 
that he should concentrate on being a "Croatian minister, not 
an attorney of U.S. interests in Croatia." 
 
Bozidar Kalmeta 
Minister of the Sea, Traffic, Tourism and Development 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
11.  (C) Kalmeta has been the mayor of the coastal city of 
Zadar for the past ten years.  Zadar has consistently posted 
Croatia's strongest post-war economic growth numbers. 
Kalmeta has a reputation of a pragmatic technocrat who worked 
well with the opposition SDP government on projects for his 
city.  Kalmeta's efforts at the head of the HDZ campaign in 
the 9th district produced the best result for the party 
anywhere in Croatia.  Sanader is loading up Kalmeta with 
duties that had been the responsibility of three separate 
ministries under the Racan government.  Kalmeta's laid-back 
interpersonal style is well suited to Zadar (or maybe to 
Southern California), but with his new workload, Kalmeta may 
have to keep his beloved motorcycles in the garage. 
Kalmeta's international reputation is tainted by his tacit 
agreement to the open display of support and sympathy for the 
ICTY-indicted fugitive General Gotovina, whose photograph 
prominently adorns the city walls in Zadar. 
 
Ivan Suker, Minister of Finance 
------------------------------- 
12.  (C) Suker is Vice President of the HDZ and mayor Velika 
Gorica, a sizeable town on the outskirts of Zagreb.  Unlike 
Kalmeta, however, he seems like an outsider and is perceived 
as a bit of a hick by Zagreb's political elite.  A successful 
businessman, Suker has no experience in international finance 
and is considered "nothing more than a bookkeeper" by his 
critics.  Suker will have a tough time keeping some of the 
HDZ's more populist campaign promises like cutting the 
value-added tax (PDV), increasing pension payments and 
simplifying Croatia's income tax.  Suker speaks no English, 
but he will be aptly supported by two young Harvard-educated 
advisers who will lend their technical expertise to this 
political heavyweight. 
 
Berislav Roncevic, Minister of Defense 
-------------------------------------- 
13.  (C) The least-known (and by all early accounts, the 
least-qualified) of all of Sanader's appointments, Roncevic 
was reportedly a last-minute choice.  A lawyer by education, 
Roncevic has been Mayor of the Slavonian small town of Nasice 
since June 2003.  His earlier career was in the town's 
forestry administration.  Roncevic's first political 
statement as Minister-designate looks to us like a misstep; 
in an initial interview, he declared that the old-style HDZ 
nationalist Branimir Glavas is his political mentor.  With no 
political experience in Zagreb and no understanding of the 
complex reform processes underway in the MOD, we will have to 
work hard early in his tenure to bring Roncevic up to speed. 
 
Marijan Mlinaric, Minister of Interior 
--------------------------------------- 
14.  (C) While Mlinaric seems to have little direct 
experience to be Interior Minister, his strong party 
credentials made it likely that he would be given some 
position of prominence in the new government.  A member of 
the HDZ collective presidency, a former MP and a former 
 
 
prefect of Varazdin county, Mlinaric is a surgeon by trade. 
In his first statement to the press, he pledged to make 
Croatia's police servants of the people and make sure 
citizens do not view the police force as an instrument of 
repression. 
 
Branko Vukelic 
Minister of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
15.  (C) Vukelic was elected Secretary General of the HDZ in 
2002, at the same party convention in which Sanader 
consolidated his control of the HDZ.  Vukelic had been tipped 
in the press as the nominee for Interior Minister, but when 
the press reported rumors of a corruption scandal dating from 
his days as mayor of the city of Karlovac, Sanader changed 
his appointment.  Vukelic will have a portfolio that had 
previously been divided between three ministries; he will 
face a significant management challenge. 
 
Bozo Biskupic, Minister of Culture 
---------------------------------- 
16.  (C) Biskupic served as the HDZ's Minister of Culture 
from 1995 - 2000.  Trained as both a lawyer and a museum 
curator, Biskupic (age 65) has been inconspicuous in Croatian 
politics in recent years.  A collector of fine art, Biskupic 
was for a time deputy mayor of Zagreb. 
 
Petar Cobankovic 
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
17.  (C) Cobankovic's background is in agriculture and he 
looks the part of a farmer, but his campaign in Eastern 
Slavonia turned out one of the best results for the HDZ. 
During the war, Cobankovic was a leader in the defense of 
Ilok, Croatia's easternmost town before the Serbs drove the 
Croatians out.  Cobankovic told us he will try to use his new 
appointment to reduce Croatia's imports of food products, but 
would not specify how he would accomplish this.  Cobankovic 
will be a reluctant Zagreber; he plans on keeping his large 
family at home in eastern Croatia. 
 
Marina Matulovic Dropulic, Minister of Environmental 
Protection, Physical Planning and Construction. 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
18.  (C) An architect by trade, Matulovic Dropulic had the 
same portfolio in previous HDZ governments.  She was Mayor of 
Zagreb until 2000. 
 
Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, Minister of European Integration 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
19. (C) A career diplomat and an associate of Sanader's 
during his stint as Deputy Foreign Minister, Grabar Kitarovic 
took a leave from the MFA to research her doctoral 
dissertation on U.S. Foreign Policy (with help from a 
Fullbright fellowship) at George Washington University.  At 
35, she will be the youngest member of Sanader's cabinet; she 
will have big shoes to fill in following Neven Mimica. 
Grabar Kitarovic spent a year as a high school exchange 
student in Los Alamos. 
 
Vesna Skare Ozbolt, Minister of Justice 
--------------------------------------- 
20.  (C) An attorney from Osijek, Skare Ozbolt began her 
career as a senior aide to President Tudjman's, and was 
heavily involved in the peaceful reintegration of Eastern 
Slavonia in the late 1990's.  Skare Ozbolt is now president 
of the Democratic Center (DC) party, the only party other 
than the HDZ to take an appointment to Sanader's cabinet. 
Skare Ozbolt has told the press that she sees her role not as 
a jurist, but as a manager; she intends to leave technical 
work to experts in her ministry.  Sanader recently refuted 
early press reports that he would personally oversee the 
relationship with ICTY -- he asserted that the Justice 
Ministry would retain this function.  Skare Ozbolt strikes us 
as smart, tough and dedicated to Croatia's integration into 
Euro-Atlantic institutions.  Unfortunately, as the only 
non-HDZ member in the cabinet, she may be viewed with 
suspicion by her colleagues; this may impede her work. 
 
Dragan Primorac, Minister of Science, Education and Sports 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
21.  (C) Primorac is Sanader's only nominee who is not 
formally a member of any political party.  Primorac has been 
active in the process of identifying the remains of missing 
persons from the war and helped develop the Racan 
government's relationship with the International Commission 
on Missing Persons.  Primorac studied medicine in the U.S. 
and now teaches forensic medicine at three medical schools in 
Croatia. 
 
Vladimir Seks, President of the Parliament 
------------------------------------------ 
22.  (C) While he is not a member of the cabinet, Seks 
(pronounced Sheks) will probably be Sanader's most important 
 
 
ally in pushing forward the HDZ's legislative agenda.  As the 
whip of the HDZ when they were in opposition during the last 
parliament, Seks used his considerable procedural expertise 
to keep the Racan government as uncomfortable as possible. 
Now, as the speaker of a parliament where his party's 
coalition has no clear majority, he will need all of his 
political cunning to keep the government's agenda from being 
derailed.  Although never indicted, Seks is a symbol of the 
corruption and cronyism which marked the late Tudjman era. 
His personal style is not confrontational, and he has an 
ironic sense of humor; at one recent social function, he 
greeted poloff by saying "Hello, I'm the reformed Seks." 
FRANK 
 
 
NNNN