US embassy cable - 95ZAGREB4068

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 004068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12356:  DECL:10/16/05 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PHUM, MOPS, HR, War Crimes 
SUBJECT:  CROATIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION (HDZ) CONGRESS: 
          UPSCALE AND UPBEAT 
 
 
1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT. 
 
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2. SUMMARY: PRESIDENT FRANJO TUDJMAN AND HIS TEAM GOT AN 
ALMOST UNANIMOUS MANDATE FROM PARTY DELEGATES AT A LAVISH 
TWO-DAY PARTY CONGRESS IN A ZAGREB CONCERT HALL OCTOBER 
14-15.  TUDJMAN REAFFIRMED HIS CONSERVATIVE NATIONALIST 
POLICIES, BUT  ANATHEMATIZED NATIONALIST EXTREMIST 
TOMISLAV MERCEP FROM THE CONGRESS ON THE SECOND DAY. 
REPEATING CALLS FOR LAW AND ORDER IN THE KRAJINA, TUDJMAN 
SAID CROATIA WOULD NOT GET IN THE WAY OF INTERNATIONAL 
NEGOTIATING EFFORTS TO BRING ABOUT THE PEACEFUL 
REINTEGRATION OF SERB-HELD EASTERN SLAVONIA, BUT 
REITERATED THAT CROATIA IS PREPARED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM 
BY ITSELF. END SUMMARY. 
 
3.  TUDJMAN TOLD THE APPRECIATIVE AUDIENCE OCTOBER 14 
THAT THERE WOULD BE NO DEVIATION FROM THE CENTRIST 
POLICIES THAT HAD CHARACTERIZED HIS GOVERNMENT.  HE MADE 
A STRONG PLEA FOR LAW AND ORDER, CONDEMNING THE "CRIMINAL 
ELEMENTS" WHICH HAD VIOLATED THE LAW IN THE KRAJINA. 
TUDJMAN NOTED THAT CROATIA HAS BECOME A REGIONAL POWER, 
CREATING AN ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH THE UNITED STATES' PEACE 
INITIATIVE COULD OPERATE.  TUDJMAN SAID CROATIA WAS 
WILLING TO COOPERATE WITH OTHER NATIONS AS AN INDEPENDENT 
STATE. 
 
4. ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE CONGRESS, TUDJMAN WAS 
RETURNED TO THE PARTY PRESIDENCY WITH 1,199 OF 1294 VOTES 
CAST. FONMIN GRANIC AND DEFMIN SUSAK WERE ELECTED AS 
PARTY VICE PRESIDENTS, ALONG WITH THREE OTHERS.  THE 
CONGRESS ALSO ELECTED AN 80-MEMBER CENTRAL COMMITTEE. 
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA FEDERATION PRESIDENT ZUBAK SPOKE ABOUT 
THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE FEDERATION FOR BOSNIA- 
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PAGE 03        ZAGREB  04068  171625Z 
HERZEGOVINA. 
 
5.  TUDJMAN ANNOUNCED THAT THE HDZ LEADERSHIP HAD NO ROOM 
FOR THE LIKES OF MERCEP, IN SPITE OF HIS VALUABLE WARTIME 
SERVICES.  MERCEP THEN WALKED OUT OF THE PARTY CONGRESS. 
PLAYING THE CENTRIST THEME AGAIN, TUDJMAN SAID MERCEP'S 
PARTY PAPER WAS NO MORE ACCEPTABLE THAN THE "FERAL 
TRIBUNE."  COMMENT:  MERCEP WAS THE COMMANDER OF A LOCAL 
DEFENSE UNIT DEFENDING VUKOVAR IN 1991; AFTER VUKOVAR 
FELL, HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO OGULIN, WHERE UNITS UNDER HIS 
COMMAND ARE WIDELY BELIEVED TO HAVE COMMITTED WAR CRIMES. 
"FERAL TRIBUNE" IS A SATIRICAL WEEKLY WELL KNOWN FOR 
TAKING POTSHOTS AT TUDJMAN.  END COMMENT. 
 
6.  LA BELLE JOUR:  THE MOOD AT THE HDZ CONVENTION WAS 
UPBEAT AND FESTIVE. SECURITY WAS POLITE AND EFFICIENT; 
WELL-DRESSED YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN SERVED AS CONTROLS AND 
ESCORTS.  INITIAL SPEECHES WERE MADE BY PARLIAMENTARIANS 
FROM NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES, WITH PRIDE OF PLACE GIVEN TO 
THE GERMAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION--READ BAVARIA--AND 
CHRISTIAN SOCIALIST UNION, WHOSE REMARKS IN GERMAN WERE 
WIDELY UNDERSTOOD BY THE AUDIENCE.  THE OCTOBER 14 
MORNING SESSION WAS FOLLOWED BY A GOURMET BUFFET WITH 
MUSIC AND TWO KINDS OF WINE.  ABOUT THE ONLY JARRING NOTE 
WAS THE IRRITATION OF THE BELGIAN AMBASSADOR, WHOSE 
PARKED CAR WAS REMOVED FROM THE ROADWAY AND PLACED ABOUT 
FIFTY FEET AWAY BY ONE OF THE ZAGREB TRAFFIC "PINCERS." 
 
7. COMMENT.  THE HDZ PARTY CONVENTION SEEMED PLANNED TO 
EXHIBIT THE SELF-SATISFACTION OF VICTORS.  EVEN SOME 
TUDJMAN REMARKS QUESTIONING THE PATRIOTISM OF THE 
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OPPOSITION STAYED CLEARLY WITHIN PREPARED PARAMETERS. 
TUDJMAN AND COMPANY REAFFIRMED THEIR COMMITMENTS TO 
SUCCESSFUL POLICIES AND CONFIDENTLY LOOK FORWARD TO 
FURTHER SUCCESS IN THE POLLS OCTOBER 29.  RECENT CHANGES 
TO THE ELECTION LAW WILL ONLY HELP THEM.  END COMMENT. 
GALBRAITH 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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