ZAGREB, April 16 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, Prime Minister Ivica Racan and Sabor President Zlatko Tomcic have reached agreement on a conception of transformation of the current intelligence community in the
country.
ZAGREB, April 16 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, Prime
Minister Ivica Racan and Sabor President Zlatko Tomcic have reached
agreement on a conception of transformation of the current
intelligence community in the country.#L#
After their informal meeting in Zagreb on Saturday evening, Prime
Minister Racan said:" What we have had with secret services so far
cannot and must not happen any more - and we agree on this".
Within their transformation secret services must cease being
centres for wielding political power, as they have so far been too
much exploited in the interest of political struggles and some
factions, and members of secret services who have abused office
cannot remain there any longer, Croatian Premier said after he
hosted the meeting with Mesic and Tomcic in the Government's
offices.
The three top officials also considered the political situation in
the country.
In view of Friday's adoption of a declaration on cooperation
between Croatia and the ICTY (the International Criminal Tribunal
for former Yugoslavia) by the Croatian national parliament, Racan
said everybody had the right to express their stands and opinion,
but a democratic Croatia cannot accept blackmail with sabre-
rattling and threats about possible civil war.
"Unfortunately we can hear such remarks these days on the occasion
of the definition of Croatia's attitude towards the Hague-based
Tribunal, but a democratic Croatia cannot accept or tolerate it,"
Racan added.
Reiterating that Saturday's meeting focused on open issues about
the re-organisation of the current intelligence community, Premier
said Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic should have proposed a
concept on the matter at the session, but he had to be hospitalised
last week and underwent surgery due to his health problems. Racan
added that Minister Ivanisevic was now feeling well.
Following some of Ivanisevic's ideas about the settlement to
certain problems we discussed and agreed that the intelligence
services' sections, which relate to the army should be more
strongly tied with the armed forces in organisation and civil
sections should be tied with the Government, Premier said.
According to Racan, the National Security Office (UNS) should
analytically unite intelligence services and the UNS should be
connected with the President of the Republic and the Government,
while relevant parliamentary bodies will have strong control over
it. We shall follow this idea in our efforts to draft adequate laws
and solve this problem very soon, Croatian Prime Minister said.
Asked whether their meeting tackled the resignation the Croatian
Intelligence Service's (HIS) head Ozren Zunec has tendered, Racan
replied that they had not discussed the matter in detail. "It is
known that it (tendered resignation) is existing and we shall
decide on it together with HIS head Zunec," Racan said.
I maintain that it is important to solve possible reasons for
misunderstanding, he added informing reporters that more can be
said on the matter in the coming days during the continuation of
talks on changes in the Croatian intelligence community.
It is the fact that HIS head Zunec has been unsatisfied with the
transformation of the intelligence services and we are also
unsatisfied with the slow process of transformation and even
resistance within the community (to changes), Racan answered and
declined to say anything more about who resisted those changes.
In appointments of security services' senior executives we have
applied logic that appointments should be done on the grounds of
agreement. We have assumed the obligation that a part of this
transformation be the reduction of secret services to a acceptable
measure for Croatia with the control over their work but also over
their costs what has not been a practice so far, he said.
(hina) ms