Therefore Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and I have issued a statement and an order to the secret services "to do their job", which means that in case that Gotovina is not in Croatia we should obtain evidence of this, Mesic told reporters at a traditional New Year's reception organised for them in the Office of the President of the Republic on Tuesday.
Mesic went on to say that orders would be sent not only to the secret services but also to the Interior Ministry and the Chief State Prosecutor's Office.
The European Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rehn, said on Monday that the start of membership talks with Croatia, scheduled for 17 March this year, could be postponed in case of Croatia's failure to arrest and transfer Gotovina to the Hague-based UN tribunal.
The Croatian head of state said he was not surprised by Rehn's statement as statements of this kind had been given all the time.
"I cannot be surprised by such a statement by Rehn as messages of this kind have already be sent by European politicians on several occasions," Mesic said.
Asked whether he had any knowledge of alleged deals between the Croatian government and the runaway general, which Rehn claimed yesterday, Mesic said that he did not know that anybody from "the official authorities in Croatia has made any contact with General Gotovina or his lawyers".