"Today Croatia is taking big steps into Europe and we now have to be united, we need a national consensus to achieve our objectives," he said in an address to the nation after the State Election Commission confirmed his landslide victory, which saw Mesic win 66 percent of the vote.
"There are different parties and opinions, but strategic goals must be uniform. My appeal to you is 'Let's all head together towards a just, modern Croatia," he said.
"I'm proud of the maturity of Croatia's democracy. We have crossed a long way and Croatia's democracy has confirmed this. Europe and the world can see that."
Thanking all who voted for him and all who went to the polls, Mesic said this presidential election confirmed that one could win with an affirmative campaign. He said there had been "insinuations and blatant lies," but added "that's behind us, because Croatia is facing the accomplishment of strategic objectives".
He said one of his first initiatives in that direction would be the adoption of a national development strategy, which he added he would try to define in cooperation with the Government.
Mesic said he would advocate that Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina remain a constituent people of that neighbouring country, which he added was why they could not be considered Croatian emigrants. "I recognise the law but I think the law has revealed its utter absurdity. If someone wants to become the president of Croatia, they can't collect votes in another country."