Mesic voiced hope that public support to Croatia's accession to NATO would grow by 2008, by which time he said Croatia had a chance to become a member of the alliance.
Asked if Croatian troops in Afghanistan had taken part in combat, Mesic said they were training the Afghan army but that they should counter if the army was attacked.
A Croatian soldier was wounded in an attack on a location where the Afghan army was being trained and that was not combat, said Mesic.
He went on to say that unlike others he did not disapprove of the start of the election campaign, stating that by the time of the polls steam will have been blown out and the campaign will be Europeanised, giving parties a chance to start presenting their platforms and teams.
Mesic also commended to the Glavas case. Glavas, in custody on suspicion of war crimes against civilians in 1991, has been on a hunger strike for 35 days. The president said the case had been politicised because many political parties had become involved. He answered in the negative when asked if Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader had become involved in the case.