VZCZCXRO4936
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVB #0854/01 3471511
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121511Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8848
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000854 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PPD, EUR/RPM AND EUR/ERA 
OSD FOR POPOVICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV HR
SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT - DECEMBER 12, 2008 
 
¶1.  (U)  PM SANADER EMPHASIZES EQUALITY ON FIRST VISIT TO 
ZAGREB MOSQUE: 
On Monday, December 9, Prime Minister Sanader paid his first 
visit ever to the Zagreb Mosque on the occasion of Eid 
al-Adha.  Sanader greeted the Mufti of Zagreb, Mufti 
Omerbasic, with a traditional Muslim greeting, attended 
celebratory ceremonies and took a tour of the mosque. 
Sanader said that his presence demonstrated that the 
government of Croatia is a government of "all Croatian 
citizens" and asked that Croatians remember that people of 
all faiths defended Croatia during the Balkan wars and many 
Muslim soldiers gave their lives so that Croatia could be 
independent.  (JNCallahan) 
 
¶2.  (U) VISIT BY RADICAL SERB POLITICIAN TRANSPIRES WITHOUT 
INCIDENT: 
Deputy President of the Serb Progressive Party, Aleksandar 
Vucic, completed a three day visit to Croatia on Wednesday, 
December 10.  Vucic had heavy police protection as he visited 
Serb returnees in the Zadar region of the country.  There 
were no incidents of violence reported.  Vucic stated that he 
did not wish to open old wounds but only to help "those 
forgotten by Serbia."  He pledged to create aid programs for 
Croatian Serbs, which he intends to submit to the Serbian 
parliament for approval.  Returnees complained about lack of 
job opportunities and basic services such as electricity. 
Vucic shocked the local Croatian media when he claimed to 
have never heard of a well known massacre that took place in 
a nearby village, though Vucic did say he condemns any war 
crimes that may have been committed.  (JNCallahan) 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  MINISTERIAL VISITS BETWEEN CROATIA AND SERBIA: 
On December 10, the Croatian Minister of Culture, Bozo 
Biskupic, met his Serbian counterpart Nebojsa Bradic. 
Biskupic thanked Bradic for creating a new commission at the 
Serbian Ministry of Culture for the return of cultural 
artifacts taken from Croatia during the war.  (Note:  The GoS 
recently gave back some artwork that was removed from Croatia 
at the time of the war.)  The Croatian MFA and the Serbian 
Embassy informed post that Serbian Minister of Internal 
Affairs Ivica Dacic was also scheduled to visit Zagreb this 
week.  (PD'Amico) 
 
¶4.  (U) ANTI-GOVERNMENT FACEBOOK DEMONSTRATION FIZZLES: 
On Friday, December 5th, rallies organized by the Facebook 
group "You tighten your belts, you bunch of thieves," were 
held in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and six other smaller towns in 
Croatia.  The group has approximately 60,000 followers on 
Facebook, but only some 1,000 to 2,500 people attended the 
event in Zagreb, while total attendance throughout the 
country was around 3,500 people.  Inclement weather kept the 
number of protesters down.  Organizers stressed that the 
protests were non-political and were intended for the average 
Croatian to voice their frustration with the government. 
Speeches criticized the political elite from all sides, the 
media, trade-unions, and civil-society organizations.  The 
group voiced approximately twenty demands to the national 
parliament including a fair review of the privatization 
process, clampdown on organized crime, cuts in the prices of 
basic consumer goods, and taxes on luxury goods.  The 
demonstrations were criticized by some for lack of 
organization while others pointed out the importance of 
social networking sites as an outlet for dissent. 
(JNCallahan) 
 
¶5.  (U) RANDOM ACT UNDERSCORES SECURITY VULNERABILITIES AT 
THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT: 
Around 2PM local time on December 5, a 34 year-old war 
veteran deliberately crashed his 
Yugo-model car into the entrance of the Croatian parliament 
on St. Mark's square near several 
other important government offices.  The motives for the 
incident have not been made public. 
No one was injured in the incident, and the doors to the 
parliament building were minimally 
damaged.  The ease with which the driver was able to approach 
parliament has surprised the 
public and highlights the light security footprint around 
Croatia's key government buildings. 
(DMeges) 
 
¶6.  (U) DANISH PARLIAMENT APPROVES ON CROATIA'S NATO 
ACCESSION PROTOCOL: 
On December 9 the MFA reported that it has been notified that 
the Parliament of Denmark has 
approved Croatia's NATO accession protocol.  The MFA noted 
that this vote makes 
 
ZAGREB 00000854  002 OF 002 
 
 
Denmark the 11th NATO member country whose parliament passed 
the protocol.  (PD'Amico) 
BRADTKE