President Mesic said that the demonstration showed that the army had been reorganised, and General Lucic said the exercise was successful and the troops well-trained.
The purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate the level of readiness of Croatian land forces for the implementation of tasks from the Partnership for Peace programme, notably participation in international military operations. President Mesic voiced satisfaction with the army's readiness to take part in UN peace operations.
"We have seen well-trained soldiers, officers and noncommissioned officers as well as sophisticated equipment," Mesic said, adding that he was especially impressed by the MILES 2000 system.
The 2.5-million-dollar system is used in laser beam targeting, with sensors registering hits. Laser beam targeting is not harmful for the army or the environment, and it significantly reduces the cost of education of the armed forces.
Asked about a memorandum on cooperation between the Croatian and the US armies, Mesic said, among other things, that one had to know whether the cooperation would include the use of enriched uranium weapons, how payments would be regulated, and whether Croatia could have charged more the use of roads during military exercises.
Asked whether failure to inform him of the signing of the memorandum had disrupted relations between him and Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic, Mesic said that it had not, "because according to the command hierarchy, the minister will do what the president asks him to".
When a reporter remarked that the minister "did not do" what he was required, Mesic repeated that the minister "will do" so.