Mesic is on a two-day visit to Norway. He spoke to journalists with public television NRK, news agency NTB, and the country's most influential newspaper, Aftenposten, which has a daily circulation of 288,000.
Questions mostly referred to the EU's March decision to postpone Croatia's entry talks and Croatia's future in Europe.
Mesic said the decision had not been a surprise, although he conceded that it was not well received. "We think we are meeting all the conditions. There is only one problem, and we can't solve it because General (Ante) Gotovina is not in Croatia, isn't available to us. We think there was no need to adopt such a drastic measure, but I believe we'll begin the negotiations soon."
Asked if he thought Croatia might start lagging behind on the road to the EU after Serbia and Montenegro was recently given a positive opinion of its suitability to start Stabilisation and Association Agreement talks, Mesic answered: "No, Croatia has made the greatest headway among the countries from the former Yugoslavia (excluding Slovenia). It has done the most in the adjustment of legislation, the reforms of the judiciary, public administration and army. We support all who are going towards the EU, but Croatia depends only on itself and will do everything expected of it".
Mesic said he thought Croatia would join the EU in 2008 or 2009 and NATO before that.
He described Croatian-Norwegian relations as good. He welcomed the return of Norwegians to the Croatian Adriatic coast, saying that last year they recorded a 104 per cent increase in tourist overnights, and voiced hope Norwegian investors would recognise Croatia as a safe country with plenty of potential.
The NTB journalist was interested why Mesic began his visit to Oslo by laying a wreath by a monument to partisans from the former Yugoslavia, including Croats, who died after being deported to Norway for forced labour.
"The antifascist movement was the most evident in Croatia and today's Croatia was created on that foundation. Antifascism is written into the Croatian Constitution. Therefore, those people fought for this antifascist Croatia," Mesic said.
The Aftenposten journalist asked Mesic if he had come to Norway to see how to organise a country outside the EU. "I've come because of our good relations, to see how the Scandinavian solution between states and national minorities functions, because, even though Norway is not in the EU, it certainly meets all the European standards."
Earlier today, Mesic held talks with Prince Haakon and Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Tomorrow he is scheduled to visit the parliament and meet its foreign policy committee, give a lecture organised by the Institute for International Relations, visit the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, where Norwegian and Croatian journalists are holding a seminar, and end his stay by attending with Bondevik a dinner organised by the Croatian Tourist Board's Oslo branch.