US embassy cable - 04ZAGREB1678

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001678 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE - KABUMOTO, S/WCI - PROSPER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, KAWC, HR, War Crimes, Defense Reform (Mil & NATO) 
SUBJECT: CROATIAN POLITICAL SPECTRUM UNITED AGAINST TROOPS 
TO IRAQ, ARTICLE 98 FOLLOWING BUSH REMARKS 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
------------------- 
 
1. (SBU) President Bush's widely publicized written reply to 
Ambassador Neven Jurica on Jurica's presentation of 
credentials has united and solidified Croatia's diverse 
political parties in opposition to sending troops to Iraq or 
signing an Article 98 agreement with us.  Although some 
commentators have emphasized the strong message in the letter 
on the GoC's responsibility to ensure ICTY fugitive Ante 
Gotovina is apprehended and transferred to The Hague, the 
bulk of the reaction has been against the letter's call to 
send troops to Iraq.  Public comment has ignored the letter's 
welcoming tone toward Croatia's Euro-Atlantic integration. 
Given the Croatian public's broad opposition to the war in 
Iraq and President Mesic's long-standing position of seeking 
a UN mandate, such a response is hardly surprising.  One 
respected commentator, Bruno Lopandic, perhaps captured the 
mood in Zagreb best in his editorial when he noted that 
President Bush's letter had shown that Gotovina, troops to 
Iraq, and Article 98 remain central to the U.S. agenda with 
Croatia and that it was time to end the self-deception of 
some Croatian politicians that these issues would fade in 
importance with a Republican Administration.  END SUMMARY AND 
COMMENT. 
 
2. (U) The reaction to President Bush's letter to new 
Croatian Ambassador to the U.S. Neven Jurica on Jurica's 
presentation of credentials was quick and uniform across the 
Croatian political spectrum.  In broadly replayed comments to 
the media, President Mesic repeated his standard comment that 
he would only support a Croatian troop contribution under a 
UN mandate and UN command.  However, Mesic refused to support 
UNSG Annan's charge that the Iraq operation was "illegal," 
commenting that, "Military operations in Iraq, carried out by 
the United States and its allies, have certainly helped to 
topple the dictatorial regime and establish peace in that 
part of the world which must be democratized.  It is not up 
to me to judge how the operation has been conducted and 
whether it was launched prematurely." 
 
3. (U) Opposition parties from the left, center and right 
have all endorsed president Mesic's position that a UN 
mandate is required before Croatia would contribute troops. 
The chief foreign policy advisor of the SDP, the main 
left-center opposition party, Zoran Milanovic commented that 
Croatia should be cautious even about sending instructors to 
the NATO-run military training academy when NATO itself 
cannot agree on a position.  Even the ruling HDZ was very 
non-committal following the release of the letter.  Kresimir 
Cosic, the HDZ parliamentarian and chief of the Croatian 
delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, commented 
that, "I think that involvement of Croatia in such an 
unsettled situation in Iraq would be a very sensitive issue." 
 
4. (U) Some press reports noted the mention of Article 98 in 
the President's letter, reporting that the GoC has been 
polling the opposition parties to gauge support for signing a 
non-surrender agreement.  According to these reports, all 
political parties are firmly against signing such an 
agreement with the U.S., with one report quoting sources in 
President Mesic's office that there would be no Article 98 
agreement as long as Croatia was sending indictees to The 
Hague. 
FRANK 
 
 
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