Mesic said that Euro-Atlantic processes made it possible for countries in the region to rid themselves of the "legacy of the past and develop values which are the foundation of the future".
"However, membership of the European Union and NATO is not just a goal but a prerequisite for development," he said at the conference organised by the Atlantic Council Croatia nongovernmental organisation in cooperation with NATO's Information and Media Office.
"United Europe and the North-Atlantic Alliance are not and must not compete but be partners. Both start from identical democratic values and the need to cooperate. They bring order and standards for all who want to become parts of the process. They need each other in international relations as well, and Croatia, with its size, position and interests, advocates and supports the policy of multilateralism."
Mesic underlined that the United Nations must have a more prominent role in regional and global relations.
The conference was also addressed by Atlantic Council Croatia president Radovan Vukadinovic, who said his NGO "doesn't want to propagate NATO's ideas but wants to be an instrument of Euro-Atlantic cooperation and relations".
Croatia's national coordinator for NATO Pjer Simunovic said Croatia's admission to the alliance would represent "a part of the Euro-Atlantic integration package which would bring us closer to stability and security". "The idea we wish to promote in Croatia is that our home is in Europe and our security in NATO."
NATO Assistant Secretary-General Jean Fournet said the alliance was the embodiment of collective security, and that its doors remained open for new members, which he added should be given more opportunities to contribute to NATO.
Fournet also said that initiatives were launched concerning the membership of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro of the Partnership for Peace programme. He added the Hungarian Embassy in Croatia was in charge of contacts with NATO.
Speaking of terrorism, he said NATO was ready to help every country which was faced with terrorism or terrorist threats in any way.