"He was a great man who had set Croatia on the path towards Europe. He was the right and necessary figure to reconstruct Croatian society from the inside and give European prospects to the country after Franjo Tudjman ," Swoboda said in the statement. The statement also said that Swoboda would represent the group of European Socialists at Racan's funeral.
The president of the Party of European Socialists, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, also issued a statement on Racan's death, stressing that he was a good and true leader, a man of enormous integrity and honesty who served his country and party with unquestionable loyalty.