The meeting, organised by the Sarajevo-based non-governmental organisation, the International League of Humanists, focused on relations between the European Union and the countries of Southeast Europe.
Noting in his address that the same topic was also the focus of a recent Central European summit in Brno, Mesic said there could never be enough efforts to find the best way for cooperation and progress to European Union membership.
The Croatian president reiterated that EU membership was the priority strategic goal of all the countries in the region, saying that it was a matter of the future and that the future should be built according to the standards of human and minority rights protection that have been applied by developed democracies for decades.
"In the eyes of Europe, our region is an island, but not a desert island. This island is home to some 20 million people, it is a multicultural, multiconfessional, interrelated and interdependent whole, destined to become a part of the European Union," Mesic said.
Noting that the EU was an irreplaceable and constructive global factor, he said that its strength lay in free movement of people, goods, capital and services, as well as in seeking solutions to common problems.
Mesic said that Croatia was far along the road to Euro-Atlantic integration.
"The road of democracy and decisions that will take Croatia into the future, is the road Croatia wants to take," he said.
On that road, Croatia told Croats living outside Croatia that they should pursue their happiness in the country where they live, and showed its readiness to ensure equal status for other ethnic groups living in Croatia, he added.
We share many common issues and common projects with the region as well as many outstanding issues from the recent past, such as the return of refugees to their prewar homes, Mesic said, calling for the continuation of reforms and changes necessary for the countries in the region to become truly democratic.
"From this conference we send to the European Union a message of peace based on tolerance and coexistence, a message of mutual tolerance, where everyone is aware of their responsibility for the safety of another," Mesic said.
Stressing that as a result of the enlargement process the EU was becoming an area of peace and security, Mesic concluded by saying that "with the Union's expansion, the borders in this region are opening up, eliminating war as a means of achieving political goals."