"We must not stay a grey area outside the EU. Croatia is part of this region and the prosperity and stability of this area is in its interest. This region must not stay outside principal economic, political, security, scientific and cultural trends. The period during which we were a source of problems lasted too long, and it's up to us to become a region of stability through cooperation and further normalisation of relations. Our citizens, and politicians in particular, must be aware that a stable future can only be built on reconciliation, co-existence and tolerance among all ethnic groups," the Croatian president said.
Mesic described relations between Serbia and Croatia as good, noting that outstanding issues were being dealt with, albeit not fast enough.
On the subject of the return of Serb refugees to their prewar homes in Croatia, Mesic said that it was in Croatia's national interests that all its citizens return in full safety, but that their return was limited by the economic situation, because "it's not enough just to rebuild people's homes, it's necessary to give them an opportunity to work and that's not possible without setting production into motion and creating new jobs."
Mesic said that it was necessary for all the countries in the region to adopt European standards, meet the requirements for EU membership, and face the past regardless of how "long and painful" that process may be.
"We must face all the dark sides of our own past so that we would be free of any such burdens in the future. Individualisation of guilt is crucial in that process. It is the individuals who perpetrated war crimes or who ordered them that must be brought to account, entire nations cannot be held accountable," he said.
Speaking of the future status of the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo, Mesic said that "the status quo is untenable, and it would be best if a solution was found through negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina with the participation of the international community." "The architecture of this region will be resolved with the resolution of Kosovo's status," he added.
In Mesic's opinion, a solution to the Kosovo issue will not affect the stability of the countries in the region and the possible independence of Kosovo will not open the issue of borders, primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as claimed by some Serbian politicians.
"Republika Srpska did not exist before the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina following the break-up of Yugoslavia, so any comparisons between Republika Srpska and Kosovo are beside the point. Kosovo, on the other hand, was an autonomous province within Serbia and a constituent element of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Anyway, Bosnia and Herzegovina simply must survive as a single state with a strong central government," Mesic said, stressing that the 1995 Dayton peace agreement, which ended the Bosnian war, did not give state powers to the two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, "so they cannot act like states within a state."