"There is not one reason why the visa-free regime should not be maintained next year as well. President Marovic reiterated several times that this is also the other side's interest," Mesic added.
He said Marovic's working visit was the continuation of consultations which should be viewed in the context of further normalisation of bilateral relations. "The most significant thing about today's meeting is that it's unspectacular," he added.
"Of course we have to aspire to further building our relations, of course we are aware of issues which still exist. However, I am pleased to confirm the firm will and commitment of both sides to go on," said Mesic.
"I can't keep silent about the fact that these past few days we have been witnesses in Croatia to undesired echoes of a specific way of confronting the past. I am talking about cooperation with the Hague tribunal and Croatian citizens' appearance before it. Those who oppose it, sometimes very aggressively and in a way which can only discredit us in the eyes of the democratic world, are objectively producing only negative effects in the region as well as in Europe and Croatia," Mesic said.
"We must not let ourselves become prisoners of the past or hostages to any one individual or individuals related to that past. We must make a clean break and we will only be able to do that once we have confronted it. This confrontation has to start at school. Then misled and misinformed high school students won't take to the street and participate in political demonstrations."
Speaking of the region, Mesic reiterated that Croatia accepted any solution to a problem which was the result of citizens' democratic will and not the result of force.
"On the road to Europe, which is our desire and destiny, we have to cooperate and support each other," he said, adding Croatia did not want to run away from the region yet wanted to be in a region which was European in every sense.
Marovic said the SCG's priority was to complete negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union as soon as possible. "I'm deeply convinced that accelerating the accession of countries in the region to European institutions is significant for the stability of Southeast Europe."
Marovic briefed Mesic about developments regarding the future status of Kosovo, reiterating that the SCG's position was democratic as it "acknowledges reality and the need to find a compromise, a rational solution for the European future."
He announced Montenegro would exert its right to hold a referendum on independence in 2006, in line with the Constitution and European standards.
During their talks, the two heads of state were joined by the chief of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Croatia, Jorge Fuentes, who presented a public campaign for refugee return and integration. The campaign called "Croatia is Home to all of its Citizens" was created by the Croatian government and the OSCE Mission.
Speaking at the press conference, Marovic told refugees who wished to return to Croatia "this campaign doesn't reflect a hypocritical position". Mesic said he supported all efforts in that direction, but added he was "aware that on lower levels there doesn't always exist the will to create a tolerant environment as soon as possible".
Asked if the government action plan launched earlier this year to arrest war crimes fugitive Ante Gotovina was still being implemented, given that the general was arrested last week, Mesic said "the action plan is something which calls on institutions to be active, to do what they have to under the law" and that, therefore, the action plan was still being implemented.
Asked to comment on an article in the latest issue of Nacional weekly about Mesic's one-time role in the settlement of the Gotovina issue, the president said that when Gotovina, while still on the run, had told Nacional that he recognised the institutions of the Hague war crimes tribunal and Croatia, he was in favour of finding a way that Gotovina be enabled to talk with representatives of the UN court's Office of the Prosecutor.
"Even though I was criticised a lot for such a position, I think I was right," said Mesic.
Speaking of the Hague war crimes tribunal, President Marovic said that all those wanted by the UN court had to appear before it, regardless of which country they were from. "It's up to the Hague tribunal to establish which circumstances are mitigating or aggravating and evaluate if the people on trial are guilty or not. Until this is established, the principle of innocence stands in both international and domestic law."