US embassy cable - 05ZAGREB204

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000204 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/RPM, INR 
DEFENSE FOR OSD/POLICY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, MARR, MASS, MOPS, HR, Defense Reform (Mil & NATO) 
SUBJECT: MOD REPLACES ASSISTANT MINISTER WHO SIGNED EUCOM 
MOU 
 
REF: A. 04 ZAGREB 2059 
     B. 04 ZAGREB 2002 
 
1.  SUMMARY AND COMMENT: The Ministry of Defense (MOD) has 
relieved Dr. Jelena Grcic-Polic from her duties as Assistant 
Minister of Defense for Defense Policy.  She has been 
replaced by Igor Pokaz, the head of international defense 
cooperation under Grcic-Polic.  While the MOD has reported 
the move as a routine rotation, the press has characterized 
Grcic-Polic as the first casualty of the conflict between 
Minister of Defense Berislav Roncevic and President Stjepan 
Mesic over the GOC-EUCOM MOU on military exercises (reftels). 
 Her departure has been rumored for several months.  It 
appears the MOU, which Grcic-Polic signed last summer on 
behalf of the GoC, is simply a convenient justification. 
Post had an excellent working relationship with Pokaz in his 
previous position and will work closely with him on key 
defense reform issues.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
2.  During her two-year tenure, Grcic-Polic is widely 
credited with speeding up necessary reforms within the 
Croatian Armed Forces to prepare for NATO integration.  A 
career diplomat, she had previously served as Croatia's 
deputy permanent representative to the UN and as Assistant 
Minister of Foreign Affairs.  She is expected to return to 
the MFA. 
 
3.  Igor Pokaz is also a career diplomat and has served in 
Croatia's observer mission to the EU and in the permanent 
mission to the UN.  He holds a degree in economics and 
graduate degrees in international relations from Tufts and 
Oxford.  Pokaz's reputation during his MOD assignment, which 
began in 2003, has been outstanding and his military pedigree 
is solid - his father was a career JNA officer who was 
promoted to general in the Croatian Armed Forces after 
independence and served as one of country's first military 
attaches. 
FRANK 
 
 
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