In the telegram, Mesic underlined that Racan's personality and political activity had left a strong mark on events in Croatia.
"The late Ivica Racan has left a mark on recent Croatian history. Apart from the numerous political and state duties he performed, he will be remembered as a man who enabled democratic changes in Croatia and as a prime minister who steered Croatia onto the European path," read the telegram.
"In the complex political circumstances of the former common state, Ivica Racan represented Croatia in the then federal bodies in various ways.
"Advocating the equality of the republics and the peoples in the former state federation, in the mid-1980s he was among the first who opposed Slobodan Milosevic's policy, accepting the inevitability of democratic changes and the independence of the former republics.
"At the helm of Croatia's Social Democratic Party, he made an immeasurable contribution not only to the creation, but also to the defence and democratic development of the Republic of Croatia," President Mesic's telegram read.