"Small countries such as Croatia, which do not have great military, financial or economic power, can demonstrate their strength only through arguments and principles, in the fight for principles," Mesic said.
"We have said that Croatia will take part in military missions under the auspices of the United Nations and according to our capabilities. We will not participate outside that framework, and that is our principle. That is how it will be as long as I am at the helm of this country," he added.
Mesic is one of the 13 candidates running in presidential elections scheduled to take place this Sunday and is expecting a convincing victory already in the first round. "I am confident that I will win and that I will be the president who will lead Croatia into the European Union in 2008."
The incumbent president said that he believed that Croatia would resolve the case of fugitive general Ante Gotovina by March 2005 and prove that it was fully cooperating with the Hague war crimes tribunal before opening membership talks with the EU.
Mesic said that in his opinion Croatia would be the last country in which Gotovina would seek refuge, but noted that "Croatia must make every effort to find Ante Gotovina's whereabouts if he is in the country, and if he is not, it must find out where he may have gone and where he is."