This is an allegedly authentic 30-second excerpt from a speech which I again allegedly gave in early 1990s, and they first said it was in Austria and later that it was in Australia, Mesic said in his address carried by the Croatian Television on Sunday evening immediately after the prime time news programme 'Dnevnik'.
In that short footage which I must again label as allegedly authentic I express standpoints which can be interpreted as pro-Ustasha in the sense that the arrival of Ustasha in power is assessed by me as Croats' victory. Besides, I also said that Croats should not apologise to anybody for anything and in this context I mentioned Jasenovac.
For the start, I cannot remember that speech. However, I do not rule out a possibility that in times when Croatia was faced with the aggressive Greater Serbia policy led by (Slobodan) Milosevic, I said something like that, as I may have got carried away with an atmosphere which prevailed in the then Croatian leadership, Mesic said.
If I did say something like that it was a tactical concession, wrong and failed, made to those who tried, through flirting with Ustasha ideology, to mobilise Croats so as to resist a Greater Serbia and Chetnic ideology, the Croatian President said stressing that he later condemned such a policy many times, with the last time being three weeks ago at Jasenovac.
It was at Jasenovac where I, in my capacity as the Croatian head of state, offered apology over crimes which the Ustasha regime committed abusing Croatia's name, he added.
I have many times said that Nazism, Fascism, and Ustasha ideology as their Croatian equivalent were criminal as ideologies and criminal in the implementation of their ideas.
Commenting on the background, purpose and motives for the publication of "those 30 seconds recorded nobody knows when and where," Mesic said it was a perfidious attempt and thinly-veiled attack against him as the most prominent creator and protagonist of some key elements of the Croatian home and foreign policies.
According to Mesic, this is also admitted by the Internet portal that posted the audio recording. The web portal admitted that it did not ask for such material but "somebody gave it (the recording) to them," he added.
Mesic reiterated that he has always held and holds that anti-Fascism is an unavoidable pillar of the present-day Croatia state.
To remove the burden of war crimes which was put on the entire people, either when it comes to war crimes committed in WW II or in the Homeland Defence War, is a must for rebuilding confidence among peoples in southeastern Europe, he said.
It is not the Croatian people that is guilty for crimes, including crimes in Jasenovac. It is individuals or groups (that should be held responsible), he said.
In this context, Mesic explained that neither Croatian people nor any other people should apologise for any crimes. It is heads of state and protagonists of national policies who should offer apology, he added.
My condemnation of Ustasha crimes was sincere just as I am sincere in my uncompromised insistence on bringing criminals to justice, regardless of their ethnic origin or offices they hold or used to hold. In this sense I have advocated and I am advocating the full cooperation with the Hague-based international tribunal.
I also persist in efforts to help Croatia enjoy European perspectives. If there is no such perspective, Croatia will be faced with isolation which means the end of democracy and the rule of law, Mesic said.
Now you can understand why (some) want to discredit me and who are those (who are trying to discredit me). I am struggling for a democratic, civil Croatia based on anti-Fascist foundations (...) and for Croatia being a promoter of cooperation in the region, Mesic said
"Those who are against such Croatia, are against me," he stressed.
Not only my speeches but also my actions prove what I am. I have worked and I shall continue working until the end of my term for the benefit and well-being of the Republic of Croatia, an European, democratic, antifascist and law-based country, Mesic said, among other thinghs, at the end of his televised address.