VZCZCXRO2619
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVB #0295/01 1461108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261108Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9246
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000295 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/SCE, EUR/PPD, EUR/RPM AND EUR/ERA 
OSD FOR POPOVICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG HR PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT - MAY 26, 2009 
 
¶1. (U) ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ZAGREB: 
Albanian President Bamir Topi met with President Mesic on May 
20 and discussed the widening cooperation between the two 
countries.  Mesic stated that Albania and Croatia joining 
NATO this year introduced "a new element" in bilateral 
relations, and that it should serve to stimulate broader ties 
outside of military cooperation, particularly in the economic 
sphere.  The two leaders also spoke about the possibility of 
Croatia lifting its visa requirements for Albanian citizens 
with Topi noting that Croatians have been able to travel to 
Albania without visas since 2002.  Regarding the idea that 
the two countries cooperate on building a nuclear power plant 
in Albania, Mesic said that Croatia should first concentrate 
on other sources of energy and that the time to make a 
decision on these plans would arrive in due course.  In a May 
21 meeting with Prime Minister Sanader both leaders agreed 
their countries' membership in NATO contributed to stability 
in the region and that Euro-Atlantic integration was the best 
way to guarantee peace and development for the countries of 
Southeastern Europe.  (PD'Amico) 
 
¶2.  CROATIAN PARLIAMENT STRIPS GLAVAS' IMMUNITY, SEEKING 
EXTRADITION FROM B-H: 
On May 20, Croatia's Parliament stripped convicted war 
criminal Branimir Glavas of his political immunity, thereby 
authorizing his arrest and detention.  Parliament confirmed 
overwhelmingly (78 - 1 with one abstention), a prior ruling 
by its Committee for Mandates and Immunities (MIP) stripping 
Glavas of immunity.  A member of Glavas' HDSSB party, Boro 
Grubisic, was the lone vote against the measure, saying that 
the "martyr" Glavas had was being politically persecuted and 
that both the court's conviction and the MIP's ruling were 
"sad, disgraceful and tragic."  Glavas, who holds dual 
Croatian and Bosnian citizenship, is currently in Bosnia, a 
country that does not extradite its own nationals.  Despite 
that the Croatian Ministry of Justice is preparing the 
necessary documents to start extradition procedures and will 
file the documents with Bosnian authorities within the legal 
deadline of 40 days.  Both Bosnia and Croatia are aware that 
either Bosnia would need to either revoke Glavas' B-H 
citizenship or revise its ban on extraditing its own 
nationals to make Glavas' extradition possible.  (VDjukic) 
 
¶3.  (U) U.S. MILITARY BAND ROCKS SPLIT: 
Croatia's second largest city, Split, was the host for two 
major performances by the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus in 
early May.  The Minister of Culture and the Mayor of Split 
were among nearly 700 guests that packed Split's Croatian 
National Theater for a free Saturday evening concert that 
ranged from baroque to disco - including on-stage disco moves 
by the ensemble's dance team.  The Ambassador, joined by PAS 
and DAO staff, hosted a reception afterwards for the 300 VIP 
contacts invited directly by the Embassy.  The Band repeated 
their performance on Sunday evening at an outdoor concert 
drawing over 1,000 people on Split's main pedestrian 
boulevard, the Riva, opening directly onto the Adriatic Sea. 
Coming on the same weekend as the festival of Split's patron 
saint, Saint Dujam, the performances were billed on the 
festival schedules as a gift from America for the people of 
Split.  On their third day, members of the Band visited 
Split's music school to conduct master classes with Split's 
up-and-coming musicians.  The impact was immediately obvious 
through the very strong and warm response to the Band and to 
the Embassy's presence, but our advertising through radio, 
posters and print media bought even more good will. (BPost) 
 
¶4.  (U) ADRIATIC SWORD EXERCISES CONDUCTED IN CROATIA: 
The Croatian Air Force and Air Defense (CAF & AD) and the 
Croatian Army trained with the USAF and US Army during the 
week of 18 May.  This five-day event included air-to-air 
basic fighter maneuvers and air policing between US F-16s and 
Croatian MiG-21s; Forward Air Control with USAF/USA and the 
Croatian Army; CAF & AD and USAF cooperation with air 
surveillance using Croatian radars and their operations 
center; and Croatian UAV air surveillance.  This training 
event was the largest in the history of the Adriatic Sword 
exercises, the first time the exercise took place in four 
separate locations, and the first to include activities on 
Slunj Range (a top USAFE priority).  (DBrock) 
 
¶5.  (U) SECRET SERVICE TRAINS CENTRAL BANK 
ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TEAM: 
Visiting Special Agents from the U.S. Secret Service office 
in Rome trained four members of the Croatian National Bank's 
newly-established anti-counterfeiting team on detecting 
fraudulent U.S. currency the week of May 18.  Established on 
March 1st, the Central Bank's anti-counterfeiting unit has 
central responsibility for examination of all suspect 
 
ZAGREB 00000295  002 OF 002 
 
 
currency in Croatia.  Since its inception the office has 
discovered 12 confirmed fraudulent $100 bills (and roughly 
175 fraudulent 100 euro notes).  However, the office until 
now lacked information on the latest trends in U.S. 
counterfeit currency as well as current specimens of genuine 
bills.  The USSS agents presented a two hour training 
including hands-on experience with counterfeit notes of 
varying quality, provided Croatian language documentation on 
the security features of U.S. currency for distribution to 
local financial institutions, and promised to supply the 
Croatians with sample specimens of the latest issues of 
genuine U.S. currency.  (DWestfall) 
 
¶6. (U) SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINAL TO BE EXTRADITED TO CROATIA 
FROM UK: 
After multiple hearings and appeals, it is expected that 
Great Britain soon will extradite Croatian Serb Milan 
Spanovic to Croatia.  Spanovic is accused of committing war 
crimes, including opening fire on unarmed citizens, torture, 
looting and arson, in several Croatian villages in 1991.  He 
was tried and convicted in absentia to 20 years imprisonment. 
 He has been in Great Britain since 1998 and has managed to 
evade extradition until now, first by complaining about the 
unfairness of Croatian courts and later by claiming to be 
depressed and suicidal.  This month, however, the British 
Supreme Court has ordered his extraition, accepting Croatia's 
arguments that Spanovic will be allowed a fair retrial and 
that he will not be discriminated against because of his 
nationality nor will his human rights be violated in Croatia. 
 (VDjukic) 
 
¶7.  (U) DCM AND ELOs VISIT ZAGREB POLICE HEADQUARTERS: 
Deputy Chief of Mission Vivian Walker and the Embassy's Entry 
Level Officers met with the Zagreb Police Chief and visited 
various components of the Zagreb Police Administration on May 
¶15.  Police administrators discussed a number of challenges 
facing the Zagreb police, such as the need for more officers, 
better facilities, and to move away from current repressive 
security techniques.  The department's intervention unit 
demonstrated new tactics used for crowd control during 
demonstrations, arrests, and the oft-occurring problems at 
large sporting events, specifically, during soccer matches. 
Presentations highlighted how Croatia's police force is 
seeking out additional resources and EU training 
opportunities to assist its adjustment toward a focus on 
crime prevention, which is an important and positive 
transformation for Croatian law enforcement.  (MKelley) 
 
¶8.  (U) NEW BIOGAS POWER PLANT TO BE LARGEST IN EUROPE: 
In Ovcara, near Vukovar, construction began last week on what 
is advertised as Europe,s largest biogas power plant. The 
planned capacity of the plant is 10 MW, enough to power a 
city of 60,000. According to press reports, the Vukovar-based 
company Bioenergija is financing the 27-30 million EUR 
project. The company plans to have the plant operating at 
full capacity by the end of 2010. Croatia,s proposed 
national energy strategy, which still awaits parliament's 
approval, sets a goal of generating 35 percent of electricity 
from renewable resources (including large hydropower plants) 
by 2020. (SLitke) 
 
¶9.  (U) HARVARD PROFESSOR CRITIQUES CROATIAN COMPETITIVENESS: 
The Pliva Business Forum in Zagreb on May 15 featured keynote 
speaker Professor Michael Porter of Harvard University's 
Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness.  Professor 
Porter, co-author of the annual Global Competitiveness 
Report, outlined several constraints on Croatia's global 
competitiveness.  These include low productivity, low labor 
force utilization, insufficient export performance, and low 
foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector.  He 
also highlighted several inhibitors to doing business in 
Croatia such as corruption, the inefficiency of the legal 
system, inflexibility of labor, and inefficient systems.  He 
encouraged Croatia to tackle its problems and to be self 
critical in order to avoid a future crash.  Professor Porter 
also shared his presentation with the Prime Minister in a 
private meeting, and has offered to host a Croatian 
delegation at Harvard to help the country improve its 
competitive situation.  (PWard) 
BRADTKE