Mesic told Croatian Radio on Monday that the state leadership had not adopted a final conclusion on the matter, but only stated that by joining the European Union Croatia would transfer part of its sovereignty to the Union and that others would transfer part of their sovereignty to Croatia.
"NATO, on the other hand, means security (for Croatia), so the Radical Party in Serbia could say whatever it wanted about a Great Serbia, because that would be an attack on a NATO country. Likewise, if someone wanted to separate from Bosnia and Herzegovina and change the architecture of this region, those would be just unrealised wishes. That's why it's good that Croatia should become a NATO member because this is a big organisation of the strongest countries, and only member countries participate in the production of arms and military equipment for it, so it would be good if Croatia joined and engaged its economy."
Mesic wondered, in case Croatian citizens were against joining NATO, whose members include powers such as the US, Germany and France, if it would be enough that in times of crisis Croatia should be protected "only by the associations Only Croatia and Croatian Bell", referring to two nonparliamentary parties.