During his 30-minute interview which the Croatian Television (HTV) broadcast after the primetime news programme on Thursday evening, President Mesic said that he was an optimist and that he thought that he had made no mistake or omission in 2005.
Explaining the reasons for his optimism, the head of state said that the authorities had vowed to carry out reforms in the public administration and judiciary, the streamlining of the military would be soon over and the interior ministry should now be reformed.
He expressed hope that the government would do its utmost to meet conditions so as to make Croatia qualified for the EU pre-accession funds.
If all of this has been done, we can be optimists, Mesic said.
He described his attempts to open European and other markets for Croatia as rather successful.
Mesic also commented on the situation in the public health sector, adding that services in that field were becoming more and more expensive for many Croatians.
Speaking about the cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, he reiterated his position that the ICTY tribunal did not put on trial generals or railway workers, figuratively speaking, but those which the tribunal has indicted.
Asked by a journalist whether he would testify at a trial of Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina in case he was summoned as a witness, Mesic answered in the affirmative. In this context he recalled that under the Croatian Constitutional Law on cooperation with the tribunal, every citizen of the Republic of Croatia is obliged to take a witness stand in The Hague, if they are summoned.
Mesic also recalled that he had already testified before the ICTY when the UN court had summoned him.