"The most logical thing would be to say that we assume he is not in Croatia, but we now really have the reports of every service and he is really not in Croatia," Mesic said when asked by the press to comment on Social Democratic Party leader Ivica Racan's statement that it is not advisable to explicitly state that Gotovina is not in Croatia.
"That's good advice. It would be best to say 'we believe' or 'we assume'," Mesic said, adding he did not see Racan's statement as a criticism.
The president reiterated that there had been plenty of information about Gotovina, that every lead had been checked but that none had led to the general or someone who might be protecting him. "Therefore, we can safely say that he isn't here."
Speaking to the press after meeting Croatian Employers Association representatives, Mesic was also asked to comment on a commemoration in the Bosnian Serb entity yesterday at which it was said that 700,000 people had been killed at Jasenovac, a Croatian concentration camp during WWII. He said the figure made no sense.
"It would have been more concrete if it was said that the victims had also included Croats who thought differently, Croat antifascists and a high number of Jews and Roma," he said.
"All figures which start from scientifically based research and existing data speak of 80-90,000 victims," Mesic said, adding that killing 80,000 innocents was a big and historically rare crime and that he did not see why such a crime should be exaggerated.
"Exaggerating such crimes and the numbers of victims leads nowhere. It should be left to historians and they said what they needed to say, providing expert findings."
Asked to comment on the recent problems in Croatian-Bosnian free trade, the president said he was confident a solution would be found.
"I am against every war, including a customs war. I think that whenever a measure is adopted the other side should be informed because it will either benefit or lose," Mesic said.