BRUSSELS BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on Tuesday held talks with NATO Secretary-General George Robertson on Zagreb's bids to come closer to the alliance as well as on the Iraqi crisis.
BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on
Tuesday held talks with NATO Secretary-General George Robertson on
Zagreb's bids to come closer to the alliance as well as on the Iraqi
crisis. #L#
"We have talked about what Croatia is doing to accomplish its
strategic goal, entry into NATO," Mesic told reporters after the
meeting.
The Croatian head of state informed NATO's chief about steps
Croatia was making to reorganise its military and make it
compatible with the alliance.
Mesic and Robertson will discuss this topic in detail during the
Briton's visit to Zagreb, scheduled for March.
The two also talked about other Croatian obligations, including
cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Mesic told Robertson that it was in the interest of Croatia to see
guilt individualised. "What happened here (Croatia) were
incidents, while (ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic's
policy itself was a crime," the president said, adding that
Croatian incidents could be counted on one hand, and most of them
would be processed by domestic courts.
Responding to reporters' request to comment on a statement by ICTY
Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte that (indictee) Ante Gotovina
walked freely in Croatia, Mesic said the claim was exaggerated. He
reiterated his appeal to Gen. Gotovina to turn himself in to the
authorities and defend his dignity and the dignity of the Croatian
army before the Hague-based tribunal.
(hina) ms