Zuzul attended a convention of the Republican Party, which nominated President George W. Bush for another term of office.
Zuzul told reporters the current political relations between the U.S. and Croatia were good but that economic relations were not. He added Croatia would like to see more U.S. investments and more American tourists.
The minister said the two countries cooperated well with regard to NATO and were conducting intensive talks on Croatia's place in the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member and the possibility of Croatia taking over the presidency of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Zuzul said there were no significant outstanding issues between Croatia and the U.S., and underlined the two countries enjoyed a good cooperation within the Adriatic Charter, which was signed also with Albania and Macedonia to bring them closer to NATO.
The Croatian minister said the U.S. had played a very important role in the region, particularly in the resolving of the crisis in Southeast Europe, and added Croatia believed the U.S. wanted to continue playing such a role.
He said early next year Croatia should focus on three issues in cooperation with the U.S. -- strengthening overall relations, primarily through Congress, obtaining further support on the road to NATO membership, and intensifying economic cooperation.
The minister assessed relations were not adversely affected by the U.S. wishes that Croatia sign an agreement on the non-extradition of U.S. citizens to the International Criminal Court and participate in the Iraqi operation in the military sense, and by Croatia's refusal to do so.
Zuzul said Croatia had explained to the U.S. it could not sign the agreement because it had to harmonise its actions with the European Union, which rejects the deal.
As for the engagement in Iraq, Zuzul said Croatia placed it in the context of the global anti-terror coalition, of which it is an active member. He recalled that Croatia sent troops to Afghanistan, welcomed seven Iraqi children for hospital treatment, and sent its own doctors to Iraq. He added he had not heard from top U.S. officials that they were unhappy with Croatia's position.
Commenting on the insistence of U.S. officials that Croatia was still not fully meeting its commitments to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague because General Ante Gotovina was at large, Zuzul said it was an indisputable fact that Croatia was fully cooperating, as confirmed by the U.N. tribunal's chief prosecutor and president in a recent report to the U.N. Security Council.
The foreign minister urged the fugitive Gotovina to get in touch with the Hague tribunal, which he said was the only place the general could defend his case.