"However, we cannot judge everything by European standards. (Cuba) lacks much what we in Europe regard as standards," Mesic said on Friday in Havana in response to reporters' question about a degree of democracy in that Latin American country.
The new leadership that is going to succeed the 80-year-old President Fidel Castro will at the beginning try to preserve the socialism which the charismatic leader of the Cuban Revolution has been nourished for decades, Mesic said in the Cuban capital where he as an observer was attending the 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
It is also certain that processes of democratisation will involve all countries including Cuba, he added.
A majority of (116 NAM) member-states are oriented towards democratisation and accelerated growth, Mesic said refuting claims that most Movement members are not democratic.
This (Havana) meeting is marked by the will of participants to cooperate and promote international peace and tolerance among the states. the Croatian leader said.
He rejected claims that the summit was a forum of those opposing the policy of the United States.
There have been some anti-American sentiments, but the entire summit is being held as it was scheduled, i.e focusing on development and cooperation.
The culmination of this week's NAM conference in Havana began on Friday with the opening ceremony of the summit of top leaders of NAM member-states.
Opening the summit, the deputy Cuban President, Raul Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expressed in speeches their strong disapproval of the U.S. official policy. However, a draft of the final declaration of the 14th summit is more moderate and there is no mention of the United States in its text.
On Friday, Mesic held several bilateral meetings with other countries' representatives and international organisations' officials, including the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
During his talks with Amr Musa, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Mesic received an interesting proposal from the Egyptian about possibilities for that organisation to establish a strategic dialogue with Croatia like the one it already has with the European Union.
Since 1992, Croatia has had the status of an observer of the Non-Aligned Movement,