At a panel discussion he held in the local sports hall, Mesic said he had chosen the town of Vrgorac as the first stop of his campaign to highlight the human potentials of that underdeveloped town in southern Croatia.
The construction of the highway from Split to Dubrovnik is a great chance for Vrgorac to develop, Mesic said, citing the example of the municipality of Dugopolje in the Split hinterland which benefited from the construction of sections of that highway and from the establishment of a free business zone. In this context he reiterated that he was in favour of adopting a law on free business zones.
He reiterated that although it was destroyed by the war and aggression and by plunder which resulted from the bad privatisation, Croatia succeeded in opening towards the world.
He told the panel discussion that he was not against the sale of real estate in Croatia to foreigners, but under the same conditions, namely when the income per capita in Croatia would reach the income per capita, for instance, of Luxembourg or some other European countries.
Commenting on the country's ambitions to become a part of Europe, Mesic said Croatia must protect its national interests and struggle for its equal position in the European bloc.
After the meeting with Vrgorac residents, Mesic travelled to the nearby village of Kokorici in which villagers made 70 stone steps in honour of President Mesic's age.
On Thursday afternoon Mesic stopped in the town of Metkovic where he met local authorities.
Asked by reporters about the cost of his campaign, Mesic said that, for instance, he would have 600 posters, on which 1.5 million kuna was spent, in comparison to some of other candidates "who spent at least seven to eight million kuna for this purpose".