VZCZCXRO1922
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHVB #0821 1880953
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070953Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6377
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000821 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO HR DEFENSE REFORM
SUBJECT: NATO SYG SAYS ALL THE RIGHT THINGS IN ZAGREB 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY AND COMMENT: NATO SYG Hoop de Scheffer, in 
Zagreb for six hours July 6, met President Mesic and PM 
Sanader, and reassured the press about NATO's readiness for 
Croatian membership "as soon as Croatia is ready."   The 
SYG's visit reinforced the GOC's efforts to educate its 
public about the responsibilities and privileges of NATO 
membership.  Even President Mesic, known for referring in 
the past to the NATO "Pact", struck a positive note (and was 
careful to use the word "Alliance") in publicly identifying 
NATO membership as strongly in Croatia's national interest. 
END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
¶2.  After meeting President Mesic in Zagreb July 6, NATO 
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the press that 
 
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invitations for NATO membership will not be distributed at a 
summit in Riga at the end of November, but he expects that 
Croatia will be given a strong and encouraging signal in 
Riga.  President Mesic told reporters that he and the SYG 
had discussed Croatia's aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic 
associations as soon as possible.  Stressing that the issue 
of NATO membership was not currently of great interest to 
the Croatian public, Mesic said this was because "when one 
speaks of Euro-Atlantic integration, this is almost always 
interpreted as joining the EU".   He added, "Joining NATO is 
in the interest of our security, the protection of certain 
values, and the most favorable solution for Croatia is to 
realize both objectives."  Mesic also noted the Croatian 
public needs to be informed of the benefits of joining both 
NATO and the EU.  De Hoop Scheffer stressed that this was a 
government responsibility, to inform the public of the 
benefits of NATO membership, adding that the alliance would 
help in that. He also said Croatia must continue 
implementing reforms and fight corruption.  He commended the 
great progress made to date in Croatia's effort to join Euro- 
Atlantic associations and called for this to continue. 
¶3.  Following his meeting with PM Ivo Sanader, de Hoop 
Scheffer also underscored Croatia's great progress on the 
path to NATO membership, and asserted that it can hope to 
receive positive signals at the Riga summit.  He added there 
was still work that needed to be done, primarily in the 
strengthening of Croatia's public support regarding the 
country's ambitions to enter NATO and the continuation of 
reforms and fight against corruption.  PM Sanader told the 
press, "For us, NATO represents a community that is 
committed to the same values as the EU. That is a community 
of countries that Croatia wants to join and must join."  PM 
Sanader noted that he had  informed Scheffer of efforts 
Croatia was making to advance cooperation in the region, 
notably through the transformation of CEFTA and its 
presidency of the SEECP, as well as the country's 
participation in NATO's trust fund for the reintegration of 
defense personnel in Bosnia-Herzegovina into civil society. 
The PM also noted that a conference on security issues will 
be held at the beginning of next week in Dubrovnik.   The 
NATO Secretary General said the alliance highly appreciated 
Croatia's leading role in the region, stressing that Croatia 
also gave its contribution to safety and security by 
participating the International Security Assistance Force 
(ISAF) Mission in Afghanistan. 
¶4.  Commenting on a reporter's question, de Hoop Scheffer 
said it was entirely untrue that NATO could ask new 
candidate countries to increase the number of soldiers in 
NATO missions in return for membership.  Asked to comment on 
information that there would be no NATO enlargement in 2008 
either, Scheffer said he also had read that, adding that one 
should not believe such reports.  The Croatian PM told 
reporters that the reason for  lower public support for 
Croatia's membership in NATO was the fact that the alliance 
was equated with the intervention in Iraq. It is primarily 
the duty of the government, as well as of all political 
leaders in the country to explain to the public that this is 
not the case and to inform them of the importance of NATO 
membership, Sanader said.  He expressed conviction Croatia 
would achieve this goal, stressing that a positive signal 
from Riga was necessary. 
Bradtke