Former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in a press release on Wednesday that on no occasion since the outbreak of the crisis in Libya did he assess or defend the Libyan regime and its informal leader, but only principles.
Mesic said the press release was prompted by some media reports and statements by Andrija Hebrang, an official of the ruling HDZ party.
"In the case in question, I find it unacceptable and extremely dangerous to adopt as a precedent in international relations a model based on which a group of countries, even if acting in accordance with a Security Council resolution, can decide who will be in power in a third, sovereign country," Mesic said in the press release.
He added that the proposal to cancel the financing of the Office of the Former President of the Republic in order to prevent him from voicing his positions, which he said he was not voicing on behalf of the state but on his own behalf, came from staunch advocates of political conformism and that it showed how they understood democracy and the right to freedom of thought and speech.
"My positions do not harm the Republic of Croatia in any way," Mesic said, adding that attempting to shut up the former head of state because someone did not like what he was saying would certainly harm the country.
He also dismissed claims that he was defending his own interests or the interests of a company, saying he would always promote the interests of Croatian companies on markets in which they had a chance.
