VZCZCXRO3734
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHVB #0695 3350818
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010818Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9686
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000695 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON ICTY EUC HR
SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - November 30, 2009 
 
¶1. (U) New Corruption Scandal Erupts - Transport Minister Under 
Fire: Croatian authorities on November 26 arrested five executives 
suspected of involvement in shady dealings at the state-owned 
Croatian Highways company (HAC). The five are suspected of 
manipulating public tenders and overbilling for road projects.  All 
suspects denied the accusations brought against them.  Over the 
weekend, the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) requested a 
parliamentary vote of no confidence against Minister of Transport 
and Maritime Affairs Bozidar Kalmeta, demanding that he resign from 
his post due to a number of scandals in state-owned companies in his 
portfolio.  Minister Kalmeta has denied any knowledge of the alleged 
corrupt activities. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Croatia Closes Three More EU Accession Chapters:  At a 
sub-ministerial level Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels on 
November 27, Croatia closed three new chapters in its EU 
negotiations, covering Financial Services, Energy, and Consumer and 
Health Protection.  This brings the total of provisionally closed 
chapters to 15.  Croatia has another 13 chapters currently open in 
negotiations, and just five remaining to be opened.  Of the five yet 
to open, three (Environment; Fisheries; and Foreign, Security and 
Defense Policy) are awaiting Slovenian consent to open, while the 
other two (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and Competition Policy) 
are the most substantively challenging.  The GoC hopes that the 
former three chapters could open and one or two more chapters be 
closed by the end of 2009.  EU sources in Zagreb, however, report 
that Slovene representatives in the Council showed some reluctance 
to closure of at least one of the chapters on November 27, only 
giving in after pressure from other EU Member States. 
 
¶3. (U) Ambassador Rapp Discusses Efforts to Locate Documents: 
Special Envoy for War Crimes Ambassador Stephen Rapp met with Prime 
Minister Kosor and other high Croatian officials on November 27 and 
discussed Croatia's latest efforts to search for the missing 
artillery documents sought by the International Criminal Tribunal 
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).  The Prime Minister pledged to 
continue the investigation and Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY. 
A more detailed report on the issue is being sent septel. 
 
¶4. (U) Mesic to Visit Kosovo in January: President Mesic plans to 
visit Kosovo on January 7.  Media note that Serbian President Tadic 
has allegedly put off a visit to Croatia three times this year, and 
speculated that Mesic's announcement of the visit to Kosovo 
indicates no Tadic visit will occur prior to the end of Mesic's 
final term in office in February.  In recent weeks Mesic has been 
critical of Belgrade's policy towards BiH and Dodik, particularly 
how the return of convicted war criminal Biljana Plavsic was 
handled. 
 
¶5. (U) Ambassador Foley Gives First Comprehensive Interview to 
Croatian Daily: On November 28th, Croatian daily newspaper, Novi 
List, published an interview with Ambassador Foley covering Croatian 
contributions to ISAF, the Arbitration agreement between Croatia and 
Slovenia, cooperation with the ICTY, anti-corruption efforts and 
shipyard privatization. 
 
¶6. (U) Embassy Zagreb Supports Green Building Council: The Green 
Building Council of Croatia (GBC) launched its first symposium this 
week at the Zagreb Architectural Society with the help of Embassy 
Zagreb's public diplomacy and management sections, including a small 
supporting grant.  Embassy Zagreb is a co-founder of the nascent GBC 
(http://www.gbccroatia.org/english/index.html ), which works to 
promote environmentally beneficial and sustainable building 
practices in Croatia. 
 
WALKER