It is true that crimes were committed on our side as well, he said. "True, that was the Yugoslav side then, but today that is Croatian territory. Crimes were committed in karst pits and I admit this."
However, for the truth to be established, the Italian side too must admit the crimes committed on its side, said Mesic.
"The other side has to admit the truth too. The Italian fascist armada destroyed our towns, our villages, set them on fire, opened camps in which women and children died. Did we occupy Italy? Did we open camps in Italy? Did we kill women and children in Italy?" the president asked, saying he did not know why someone was bothered when he said this.
He also commented on the Croatian-Slovene border issue in the wake of a diplomatic note with which Slovenia reacted to the Croatian government's decision to extend oil company INA's concession to drill for oil and gas in the Adriatic.
"The borders between today's states are determined because the borders of former Yugoslavia's republic became the borders of the newly-created states, including the borders between Croatia and Slovenia."
"If there are any doubts as to a few points along the land border between Slovenia and Croatia, I advocate jointly identifying metre by metre," Mesic said, adding that this would put an end to all mutual accusations in the future.
"If that fails, I suggest going to an international body, the International Court of Justice in The Hague or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg."
Mesic said that the sea border was familiar because "the land border leading to the sea is determined".
"That's why there won't be any more division of the sea part," he said, adding that the Adriatic was divided as soon as one obtained a point of access to the sea. "The border on the sea is then established with mathematical precision," he said, adding that it was pointless to make an issue out of something that was obvious to all who wanted peaceful cooperation on both sides of the border.