PRESIDENT MESIC HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE

ZAGREB, Oct 12 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic told Thursday's news conference he did not intend to dissolve the government and was not preparing a shadow cabinet, but added he believed the government did need help. Croatia has to find a way out of the depression, and this requires formulating strategic objectives and attracting foreign capital to activate our potentials, he said. Mesic added that in this respect, talks with top economists and experts which he had suggested, could lead to a proposal which should help the government set objectives and solve problems. Asked about his stance regarding the national currency exchange rate, Mesic said he opposed kuna's devaluation, but advocated a gradual establishment of its real exchange rate to activate production and spur employment. Assessing his cooperation with the prime minister as good, Mesic confirmed he would continue holding working meetings with him and the parliament speaker. We must calm the situation and it is not always necessary to have the meetings covered in the media, Mesic said in the wake of Wednesday night's meeting with the prime minister. Asked whether he was going to dissolve the government should disagreement occur with regards to motioned constitutional changes, the President stressed he had no intention of doing so. He expressed conviction constitutional amendments would be motioned in a manner acceptable to everyone. He recalled that during the electoral campaign he had announced which authorities he would advocate and stressed the need for a balanced relationship between the parliament, government and President. He also recalled his views that the president of the state should be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces during peace and war, appoint the leaders of the intelligence services and co-create the country's foreign policy. Foreign policy cannot be spoken about without a mention of the president of the state, he said. Members of parliament will use amendments in parliament procedure to define their views on the draft constitutional changes. I do not know how they will vote, but I believe they will do it conscientiously because changes to the Constitution are made for a lengthy period. They should be passed to the benefit of a better functioning of the Croatian State, not to the benefit of any which one section of state authority. Asked about the security situation in the state with regards to Wednesday's call of the so-called Croatian People's Liberation Council for a coup d'etat, Mesic assessed the situation was not dangerous, and both the army and police were performing their duties regularly. "This has no influence on them, but it does have influence on the international public," Mesic asserted. According to him, such steps were made by those who wish to isolate Croatia and separate it from the international community so they could rob it. "I noticed no hatred towards the Catholic Church, this is somebody's imagination at work. I do not know what caused such a conclusion," Mesic said in reply to a reporter's question, stressing he had not noticed any intolerance towards any other religious community. (The Croatian People's Liberation Council, an obscure organisation which recently issued public threats to the highest state officials, called for a military coup on Wednesday. The call was formulated in a statement and sent to the media by post.) Asked why he did not attend Wednesday's soccer match between Scotland and Croatia, Mesic recalled he had previously announced he most probably would not attend the match. I can now say I did not go to the match because the Croatian team is being led by "Mr Ciro Blazevic". I do not wish to participate in his promotion because of the inappropriate statements he has been making, Mesic said. In the wake of recent armed incidents and murders committed by active military personnel, including yesterday's murder of a famous Croatian athlete and official of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Matija Ljubek, reporters wished to know what was going to be done to stop such occurrences. President Mesic said the above mentioned incidents were the result of a selective law application, since some believed they were above the law and could get away with robbery, law violations, even murder. Military officers must be honourable and responsible people. They cannot be involved in crime, dishonest business "and the organisation of a political torchlight parade". Croatia is a law-based state and I hope the army will draw conclusions from these events, he added. Speaking about his knowledge about the work of intelligence services, Mesic said he was more informed than ever before, but was not satisfied with the work of certain services. With regards to the appointment of officers who should replace the recently retired army generals, Mesic said he had not spoken about the issue with the defence minister, but, he added he expected an adequate solution would be found. Mesic concluded attention should be paid to finding ways of solving economic issues, increasing production and employment. I agree that the dignity of the Homeland Defence War should be maximally protected and its victims helped, but within the borders of possibility. We should not look back, but rather turn to the future, towards challenges set before Croatia, and the solving of problems of Croatian citizens, because only in this way can be achieve prosperity, Mesic said. The international community will not turn a blind eye on Serbia in its fulfilment of all relevant criteria for restoring the country into the European democratic community, Mesic said in comment on foreign policy issues, and dismissed suspicions that Croatia might lose by the opening of Serbia. "If (Serbia) does not pass a law in line with which it will extradite all war crimes suspects and genocide suspects to the Hague (international war crimes tribunal), it certainly cannot expect assistance from the international community," President Mesic said. He added he expected of Serbia to process war criminals in court and its conduct in this field to be placed under scrutiny. "It would be tragic, a global absurdity," for, for example, a culprit for the mass killings on the Ovcara farm (near Croatia's eastern town of Vukovar), Veselin Sljivancanin, to be holding lectures at a military academy, while Serbia receives assistance from the West for the reconstruction of the country, Mesic asserted. Serbia will also be expected to fulfil all European standards, Mesic said in reply to a question how much the foreign policy position of Croatia would change considering the events in Serbia. Political actors around the world knew that the nationalist rhetorics the opposition used plentifully in the electoral campaign, was the only way to topple Milosevic's regime, Mesic said. He assessed Serbia needed a certain amount of time for the establishment of institutions to make a law-based state functional. The Croatian government needs first hand information, and welcomed a delegation of Serbia's new government which visited Zagreb on Monday and whose stances are "far from what used to be Milosevic's politics". Croatia can be satisfied with the fact that the leaders of 16 European countries will gather at a summit in Zagreb on November 24, Mesic said. This will be an opportunity for Zagreb to "see first hand what the European Union can and wants to offer Croatia," he said, adding this will be an interactive meeting where Croatia would get a chance to "say what it needs to be included in European processes". In this regard, Mesic mentioned important projects such as the Adriatic-Ionic highway, cleaning of the gas and oil pipelines from Norway to the Adriatic sea and resources for activating Croatian production. He added he expected the summit to be useful for Croatia and the entire region. Asked why he did not visit Kosovo, Mesic said he did not want to ahead of general elections in Serbia in order to avoid speculation about his possible affecting the results of elections. "If such manipulation by Slobodan Milosevic occurred so the opposition loses the elections, somebody could claim my visit to Kosovo partially influenced their failure," Mesic said, refusing to disclose the sources of such advice. Asked about Croatia's readiness to support Montenegro's independence should such actions surface, Mesic said his personal stance was that he would gladly accept any choice the people of Montenegro make. (hina) lml