Croatia, a country in which music rules, is the only country in the world in which head of state is also a composer, French daily Le Monde said in an article dedicated to Croatian President Ivo Josipovic on the occasion of the presentation of Croatia's culture in France, published earlier this week.
With the population of 4.5 million, Croatia takes up a modest place on the world map, Le Monde said, recalling that the country, located between the Mediterranean and Central Europe, made top news in the 1990s during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
Croatia, which is presented to the French public though the Festival of Croatia in France, could easily go by the slogan: Country in Which Music Rules, said Le Monde in its online edition.
Croatia is the only country in the world whose president is also a composer, Le Monde said.
Josipovic is not an amateur saxophonist like Bill Clinton, or Sunday accordionist like Valery Giscard d' Estaing but a statesman in the tradition of King David, King Friedrick the Great of Prussia or pianist and composer Ignacy Paderewski, Polish president after WWI, Le Monde said.
"I've always wondered how does he manage to do all at once," Le Monde cited Josipovic's friend and composer Berislav Sipus as saying.
Josipovic is also a jurist, law professor, moderator between Zagreb and Belgrade, author of about two dozen books, former Croatia's representative before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, head of the music Biennale, Le Monde said adding that Josipovic's presidential candidacy was supported not only by his political party but also by the civil society and many artists.
His presidential campaign was based on the fight against corruption and reconciliation in the region and today he advocates culture to be in the centre of the European Project, Le Monde said adding that Josipovic believes it is important to keep budgetary finances for culture even in the time of recession.
