I am completely confident that Tudjman preferred a peaceful, diplomatic and negotiated solution. I heard him saying on several occasions that he would rather negotiate with the devil if this would save lives and contribute to a peaceful settlement, Zuzul said in response to questions put by General Gotovina's defence team.
The three generals are charged with war crimes committed against Serb civilians during and in the wake of the August 1995 Operation Storm in which the Croatian forces liberated areas held by Serb rebels.
According to Zuzul, who is a witness for Gotovina's defence, Tudjman took care about three strategic aims: to stop the Serbian aggression, establish control within Croatia's internationally recognised borders, and integrate Croatia into the European Union and NATO.
Zuzul, who was a deputy foreign minister, President Tudjman's national security advisor and Croatia's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva in the early 1990s, told the court that Tudjman had always had on his mind the fact that the war would eventually end and that Croatia would sooner or later become part of integrated Europe.
When making decisions, Tudjman took into consideration the position of the international community, Zuzul said, explaining that if the United States had been against Operation Storm, Tudjman would have halted the military and police operation.
The best example proving this was the fact that the operation was stopped before it reached Banja Luka (the Serb-held northwestern area of Bosnia-Herzegovina), the witness said.
He said that he had never heard of a plan for expelling local Serbs.
As regards arson and plunder in the wake of Operation Storm, the then Croatian state leadership was concerned about it, and nobody approved of those crimes, Zuzul said.
He said that all that he had heard about General Gotovina were words of praise.
The witness will be cross-examined on Tuesday.