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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
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DE RUEHVB #0100/01 0441319
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131319Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8573
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000100 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PPD, EUR/RPM AND EUR/ERA 
OSD FOR WINTERNITZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV HR
SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT - FEBRUARY 13, 2008 
 
¶1. (U) ODC COORDINATES CROATIA'S 11TH ROTATION TO 
AFGHANISTAN: On February 12, the 11th contingent of Croatian 
soldiers departed for Afghanistan.  These soldiers will 
replace Croatian soldiers returning home after a 6 month 
rotation in Afghanistan.  The Office of Defense Cooperation 
coordinates these regular rotations to the ISAF mission. 
Currently, Croatia has 207 men deployed in ISAF and will 
increase the contingent to 300 this year in accordance with a 
parliamentary decision.  Speaking about this most recent 
contingent, Croatian Defense Minister Branko Vukelic said 
that such missions promote Croatia and its readiness to join 
NATO. (PMcCabe) 
 
¶2. (U) SUPPORT FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP OVER 50 PERCENT IN ALL 
POLLS:  Recent polling results among all major pollsters in 
Croatia show more than half of Croatians support Croatia's 
NATO membership.  The leading polling agency "Puls," whose 
work until recently had shown support in the upper 40s, this 
week found 51.5 percent of respondents in favor of Croatia 
accepting a NATO invitation.  Thirty-two percent opposed 
Croatia's entry into NATO, while 16.5 percent said they 
didn't know.  The "Promocija Plus" polling agency posted 
similar results in a survey conducted between January 31 and 
February 1, with 51.1 percent saying they favored Croatia's 
NATO membership, 39 percent opposed, and 9.9 percent 
undecided.  In polling on January 28 and 29 by the "Vectura" 
agency, 54.1 percent of respondents said they would vote for 
NATO membership while 30.3 percent said they would vote 
against and 15.6 percent were undecided.  A 
government-sponsored poll conducted by "GfK" agency scheduled 
released on February 8 shows 52 percent of Croatians in favor 
of NATO membership with 27 percent against and 21 percent 
undecided. (TSelinger) 
 
¶3. (U) NEW NATIONAL BANK CIRCULAR ON MONEY LAUNDERING AND 
TERRORIST FINANCING:  The Croatian National Bank issued a 
circular on February 11 to banks and other financial 
institutions laying out new measures in the fight against 
money laundering and terrorist financing.  The circular sets 
new guidelines for customer identification, risk assessment 
and reporting of suspicious transactions, among others.  This 
step was taken in anticipation of upcoming legislative action 
to align Croatia's domestic law with the EU acquis, in this 
case, the Third Money Laundering Directive of 2005. 
(NBerliner) 
 
¶4. (U) EMBASSY ZAGREB HOSTS FIRST AMERICAN CITIZEN'S 
INFORMATION NIGHT:  On February 7, the Consular Section held 
the first American Citizen's Information Night at the 
Embassy, attended by more than 200 American citizens resident 
in Croatia.  The AmCits had the opportunity to get 
information on topics such as overseas voting assistance, 
immigration to the U.S., Social Security issues, commercial 
and investment opportunities, information about educational 
opportunities and English-speaking community groups in 
Croatia, as well as the latest information on requirements 
for Croatian visa and residence permits.  Participants 
included USG officials from the Citizenship and Immigration 
Service and the Department of Homeland Security; Croatian 
officials from the Foreign Ministry's Visa and Aliens 
Department and the Interior Ministry's Aliens Department; and 
representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce, American 
International School of Zagreb, International Women's Club 
and Croatian-American Society.  Embassy employees 
representing a number of offices were also available to 
answer questions about their programs and activities. 
Consular staff provided routine consular services, such as 
voting assistance, notarial services and passport renewals. 
More than 20 Foreign Service Officers and Locally Engaged 
Staff from U.S. Embassies from around Southeast Europe, in 
town for the Consular Leadership Day, also attended the 
event.  (AJohnson) 
 
¶5. (U) FOURTH ANNUAL REGIONAL CONSULAR LEADERSHIP DAY: 
Embassy Zagreb's hosted the Fourth Annual Regional Consular 
Leadership Day at the U.S. Embassy on February 8, focusing on 
three Consular Leadership Tenets: "Build Great Teams, 
Communicate, and Learn Constantly."  Forty-six consular 
officers and locally employed staff members from Zagreb, 
Sarajevo, Skopje, Belgrade, Pristina and Podgorica 
participated in the day-long event, which included 
presentations from Maria Belvedere, Officer in Charge, 
Regional DHS Office of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, 
and Martina Delija, Regional Federal Benefits Assistant.  In 
addition, two staff members from Sarajevo gave an overview of 
their response to the 2007 bus accident involving a group of 
American tourists.  Attendees also participated in round 
table discussions on best practices in their respective units 
 
ZAGREB 00000100  002 OF 002 
 
 
(NIV, IV, ACS and Fraud Prevention).  (MNice) 
 
¶6. (U) U.S. EMBASSY OFFICERS LEARN OF ECONOMIC SUCCESS 
STORIES NEW AND OLD:  As part of Embassy Zagreb's Entry Level 
Officer Development Program, six ELOs visited Applied 
Ceramics in Sisak and Gavrilovic in Petrinja, two towns about 
fifty miles outside Zagreb.  At Applied Ceramics they met 
with the company's president, Croatian-American Matt Sertic, 
to learn about his experience establishing a branch of the 
company in Croatia last year.  Sertic said he encourages 
other companies from Silicon Valley to consider investing in 
Croatia, but he added that cumbersome administrative and 
bureaucratic processes remain an obstacle, particularly for 
those without a Croatian background.  At Gavrilovic, the 
officers learned about the changes the company has undergone 
as one of the oldest meat-processing companies in Europe, 
including socialization during the Yugoslav era, confiscation 
by Serbs during the Homeland War, and reestablishing the 
company after the war, partially with USG financial support 
for demining to promote economic development.  Currently the 
company is working to expand its product sales on the U.S. 
market.  (SLitke) 
WALKER