Mesic said that all relevant political forces in the country were in favour of Croatia joining the European Union, and underlined the efforts by all state institutions to resolve all outstanding issues before the start of accession talks with the bloc.
Croatian Parliament Vice-President Luka Bebic also received Lord Grenfell, who had arrived for a working visit at the invitation of the parliamentary Committee on European Integration.
Lord Grenfell said that there were two reasons for his visit -- increasingly better relations between the two parliaments and their committees, and a desire to demonstrate a strong will for Croatia to become a member of the EU, according to a statement from the parliamentary Public Relations Office.
The British guest said he hoped Croatia would start membership talks as soon as possible, adding that Britain was ready to share its experience in adopting EU legislation with relevant Croatian Parliament committees.
Bebic thanked Britain for its support to Croatia in all stages of its progress towards the European Union and for recognising the efforts Croatia had made in a relatively short period of time.
Croatia hopes that the membership talks will start on March 17 as scheduled, but the international community has signalled that this will not be possible unless Croatia arrests fugitive general Ante Gotovina and transfers him to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Bebic said that Croatia was fully aware that full cooperation with the Hague tribunal was the fundamental condition for opening accession talks with the EU. He gave firm assurances that everything was being done to close the last outstanding issue.
Speaking of the protection of ethnic minorities, Bebic said that, despite the recent war, Croatia had managed to resolve this issue in the best possible way through the constitutional law on national minorities.
Bebic pointed out that the restitution of property to refugees was exclusively a financial rather than a political issue. He said that Croatia was fully ready to help neighbouring countries in democratic development and in their efforts to join the EU, adding that it was in Croatia's long-term interest to ensure that Southeast Europe was not a region of conflict but of cooperation.
Bebic said that the start of talks on Croatia's EU membership would be a message of encouragement to the neighbouring countries to increase their efforts in the same direction.
Lord Grenfell agreed, expressing hope that Croatia would manage to resolve the only remaining problem with the Hague tribunal and that it would have a positive effect on the entire region, the statement said.