Mesic: No Need for Referendum on NATO

By entering NATO Croatia will not transfer a part of its sovereignty, so a referendum is not necessary, but can be organised, said Mesic.

Speaking about a referendum of Croatia’s accession into NATO, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said that by entering the organisation, Croatia would not transfer a part of its sovereignty, so, according to the Croatian Constitution, a referendum was not necessary. But, if the public wants it, it can always be organised, he added. Mesic told the Croatian Radio that the state leadership had made no conclusions on the matter, but had stated that by entering the EU, Croatia was transferring some of its sovereignty over to the Union, while others were transferring their sovereignty over to Croatia. 

NATO means security for Croatia, so the Radical Party in Serbia can say whatever it wants about a “Greater Serbia” because that would be an attack on one of EU’s members. Also, even if someone wanted to separate from Bosnia-Herzegovina and change the architecture of this region, those would be only implausible wishes. It is, therefore, good that Croatia be a member of the NATO pact because it is a large organisation of the most powerful countries and only member countries participate in the production or weapons and military equipment, so it would be good that Croatia becomes included in that and have its economy engaged in it, Mesic said.

If Croatian citizens should oppose Croatia’s entry into NATO which includes super powers such as the United States,Germany and France, is it enough that be have “only associations such as ‘Only Croatia’ and ‘The Croatian Bell’ to defend us if a crisis occurs”, Mesic wondered.