Mesic was speaking to reporters in the southern Adriatic city of Split where he was collecting citizens' signatures for his presidential nomination.
Asked to comment on a report in today's Vecernji List daily that POA Director Josko Podbevsek had fired his deputy, Ante Glavan, and the head of the POA's Zagreb Office, Mario Frlan, the president said that two agents who had questioned Helena Puljiz should have been relieved of their duties the moment the scandal broke out.
"It is good that it was done now, but that is not a solution. It is obvious that some serious airing-out will be necessary," Mesic said, adding that the fact that Podbevsek had insisted that everything was in perfect order indicated that there were a number of shortcomings in the agency that should be eliminated.
Commenting on an article in today's issue of Nacional weekly, which said that he had been under intelligence surveillance, Mesic said he had read the article and that he had seen the document corroborating the allegations contained in the article.
Asked if he knew why he had been placed under surveillance, the president said he did not and that those in charge of the surveillance operation did not know that either. "The service was obviously dealing with things that had nothing to do with its true purpose."
Commenting on the gathering of persons in uniforms of the Nazi-backed WWII Ustasha regime in the central Adriatic city of Zadar on Monday, Mesic said he was certain that the judiciary would respond to the incident "because it is retrograde and harmful to the state and the people".