The president commended Croatia's foreign policy and the policy of Euro-Atlantic integration, saying that Croatia must take over EU and NATO standards, not just because of Europe and the world, but mainly for its own sake.
Participation in UN-led peace missions, praise from other countries participating in those missions and the entire international community are indicators of Croatia's qualities and capabilities, said Mesic.
He underlined that an important component of Croatia's foreign policy was cooperation in the region and that Croatia was already an important factor in Southeast Europe.
Mesic added that he could say without false modesty that Croatia represented a positive example to countries which were behind it in terms of social democratisation and European standards.
The president said everyone realised that Croatia followed its Euro-Atlantic path and that integration processes could not and must not be stopped.
Therefore I hope and believe that for the benefit of us all we will soon achieve the two most important goals -- EU and NATO membership, said Mesic.