"I will not see a runoff as a defeat because enormous funds are being invested in the campaign of one candidate, which is unprecedented in Croatian elections," Mesic said at a press conference in Zagreb, alluding to his main rival, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Jadranka Kosor.
Mesic said that according to a survey conducted by his election team he enjoyed direct support from nearly 50 per cent voters, and that this percentage could rise to around 63 if those undecided were counted in.
He declined to comment on a statement by Jutarnji List columnist Ivan Zvonimir Cicak, who said in a Nova TV programme on Wednesday evening that former Counterintelligence Agency (POA) director Josko Podbevsek was not sacked over the interrogation of free-lance journalist Helena Puljiz by POA agents, but because of documents compiled by Macedonian and Bosnian intelligence services.
According to Cicak, the Macedonian intelligence service said in a document that Mesic's last election campaign had been financed by the Albanian drug mafia, while a document by the Bosnian intelligence service says that Mesic was involved in arms trade.
Mesic just said that he had refused Cicak's requests to appoint him as a presidential adviser and later as an ambassador to Belgrade.
Asked if he would stick to his earlier announcement that he would sue independent presidential candidate Boris Miksic over his statement that the French secret service had bought Mesic a villa on the Cote d'Azur, Mesic said he would sue all those who had tried to deceive the public by telling untruths about him.
"(Miksic) did not apologise. He said he was joking only after I mentioned a suit. (...) I will call all those who have been telling untruths about me to prove their allegations in court," Mesic said.
Asked if this meant he would also sue Cicak, Mesic said he would take to court all those who had slandered him.