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IJNCLAS ZAGREB OOOO43

SENSITI\IE, SIPDIS
E-o- 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL/ PGOV, HR
SUB.IECT: ZAGREB DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT: JANUARY 20, 2010

1. (SBU) PRESIDENT MESrC'S COMMENTS ON OPPOSING RS SECESSTON

WITH MILITARY ACTION: According to locaL media, in an
informal chat with reporters on January 18, President Mesic
said that, if Republika Srpska (RS) in Bosnia-Herzeg'ovina
(BiH) voted in a referendum to secede from BiH, then the RS
"would cease to exist immediately and I would resort to
military means to (shut off the Brcko corridor) . " Pressed by
reporters in a subsequent encounter to expJ-ain his comments,
Mesic said that he was stressing that those who are
g-ua.rantors of the Dayton Accords cannot Iet BiH fall apart.
Mesic's commenLs drew sharp reactions from RS President
Milorad Dodik and other Serb politicians. Many rnedia
commentators in Croatia have desc,ribed Mseict s cortrnents as
'rcrossing the 1ine" and note that Mesic, who in any case has
l-ess than one month rema.ining in office, wouJ-d not have the
authority to make such a decision on his own. The Croatian
grouernment has declined to c,omment on Mesic' s statements
(COMMENT: Mesic has made similar remarks in private for at
J.east a yea.r, whenever Dodik ratchets up his own threats to
dismember BiH. Such comments have never before been made
public. It is extremely unlikely there is any real plan for
a miLitary response to RS secession, but Mesic's comments do
und.erline how Croatia would be und.er piessure to respond j.n
some way !o the possibility of RS seceding from BiH. END
COMMENT)

{.INITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

REWEW AUTIIORITY: MARTIN MCLEAN r r\r/-rr cl crrnrnr-\
^
 cRoArrAN AurHoRrrrES ExpAlrD BrpMErRrc pAsspoRr LTNCLASSIFIED
"..NCE TO ALL CITIZENS: From January 18, Croatia.n citizens
.1 receive biometric passports for almost aII approved.
rssport applications, according to a statement from the
.'tinistry of the Interior - Beginning on July 1, ZOO7 ,
biometri.c pa.ssports were issued to diplomat,ic personnel and
were availabLe as a choic,e to regular eitizens applying for
passports in Zag'reb. Biometric passports wi1l not be
mandatory for all applicants applying in Croatia and at
nearly alL embassies abroad. According to the GoC, only a
handful of croatian embassies without the proper equipment,
will be issuing the non-biometric version; these wi13. be
updated shortly. Previously issued passports wilJ. still
remain vaLid until their expiration date.
FOI,EY

NNNN

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