Ryder acquainted the Croatian president with the role of the ICFTU in this part of Europe, where one of its priorities is to help in the development of civil and democratic society in transition countries.
Mesic spoke of the difficult circumstances in Croatia in which the process of ownership transformation and privatisation had taken place, saying that Croatia was now nearly a deindustrialised country in which the insufficient rule of law had contributed to unemployment and failed privatisation projects.
The Croatian president agreed that without trade unions as a social corrective it was not possible to achieve the basic provision of the Constitution which says that Croatia is a democratic, welfare and just state, the statement said.
SSSH President Vesna Dejanovic said that trade unions would become unconvincing unless the rule of law started functioning and that it was impossible to restore the faith of the public in the rule of law and justice without a thorough judicial reform.
Dejanovic said that the SSSH had offered its assistance to the government in EU membership talks, stressing that it could obtain expert opinions, which are necessary for taking proper decisions, through the ICFTU and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
The SSSH is Croatia's only trade union confederation that is a member of the ICFTU, which brings together trade unions from 150 countries, the statement said.