"I said this loyalty could have been brought into question. I object solely to the way in which the decision was adopted," he told the press in the Istrian town of Labin after a closed-door meeting with the leaders of the Italian Union and the Italian National Community's member of parliament, Furio Radin.
Mesic said that a state which was adopting a decision on another state's citizens should talk with that state so as to avert misunderstandings and so that the loyalty of those citizens was not doubted.
Mesic said the Italian minority in Croatia was a bridge of cooperation with Italy. "We had problems with dual citizenship because even the dead voted in elections. I believe we will settle this by law, but also by an agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina."
Radin said the president need not worry about the loyalty of the Italian National Community and for people in Istria and Rijeka with dual citizenship. "We are... loyal both to the state and to our origins. We in Istria... are not divided personalities and our identity certainly isn't in question."
Prior to the meeting, Mesic attended a special session of the Istria County Assembly held on the 85th anniversary of the Labin Republic. He said the Labin miners' strike of 1921 was the first major antifascist uprising in Europe and a historic event in Croatia because it showed that the Croatian people had recognised the danger of fascism and stated its antifascist character.
Mesic went on to say that Croatia closely followed all regional initiatives and Istria County's involvement in them because the policy of regional integration promoted Croatia and helped Istria's development. He criticised the fact that Croatia had not begun decentralisation.