Cablegate: Zagreb Daily Report - December 10, 2009

VZCZCXRO2507
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHVB #0721 3441221
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101221Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9719
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000721

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL HR AF ECON
SUBJECT: Zagreb Daily Report - December 10, 2009

1. (U) Minister announces planned new agreement with Bosnia on
fugitive convicts: Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic on
December 9 said publicly that he expects Croatia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina to sign, by the end of this month, an agreement
on the execution of final verdicts delivered in the other country.
This would address the problem of dual nationals who have escaped
serving their sentences by fleeing to the other country, from which
they cannot be extradited because both countries' Constitutions
currently forbid extradition of their own nationals. The new
agreement would retain a provision giving each country the right to
decide whether it would enforce the prison term in cases involving
criminal acts of a military, political or financial character.
2. (U) Mesic and Vujanovic Praise Croatian-Montenegrin relations: On
December 9 President Mesic met with his visiting Montenegrin
counterpart Filip Vujanovic. Mesic described bilateral relations as
excellent and stated that it was thanks in part to the courage
Podgorica showed when it admitted to having been involved in
unfortunate events during the war. Vujanovic described relations
between the two countries as meaningful, intensive and friendly, and
cited the hiring of a Croatian consortium led by the Split-based
firm Konstruktor for the construction of a major motorway in
Montenegro as an outstanding example of bilateral economic
cooperation. Mesic congratulated Montenegro for its progress
towards NATO membership, and added that Croatia was ready to help
Montenegro in every way on its path to the EU.

3. (U) FM expresses strong support for U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan
during trip to Washington: The Croatian press reported that on
December 9, in his remarks to the Atlantic Council in Washington, FM
Jandrokovic said Croatia strongly supports the new U.S. strategy for
Afghanistan and believed that the international community's mission
there would succeed. The media also noted that FM met with U/S of
Defense Flournoy, NSC Senior Director Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and
members of Congress including Senator Mark Begich, Senator George
Voinovich, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Chairman of the House Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, and members of the Croatian
Congressional Caucus. The MFA spokesman said that Minister
Jandrokovic thanked the Congress for US support to Croatia on NATO
and EU membership, raised the possibility of greater economic ties,
noted Croatia's support for the Butmir process in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and asked for Congressional support to include
Croatia in the Visa Waiver Program.

FOLEY

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