ZAGREB, April 10, 2019 - Slovenia's National Security Council, which convened on Tuesday evening to discuss "the espionage affair", called on Croatia to refrain in the future from spying activities in Slovenia.

After the three-hour meeting in Ljubljana, the council said that it had been informed of spying activities during the border arbitration process a few years ago and also condemned any attempt aimed at interfering at Slovenian media.

Lately, Slovenian media accused the Croatian Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) of having wiretapped two Slovenian officials during a border arbitration process and claimed that Ivan Tolj, the head of the Styria publishing company in Croatia, attempted to prevent the publication of a reportage on a "spy affair" on behalf of the Croatian government.

Tuesday's meeting of Slovenia's National Security Council brought together Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, government ministers as well as representatives of opposition parties.

A representative of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), Božidar Breznik, told the press after the meeting that he condemned the unjustified interference with media and added that nevertheless, the Slovenian government must accept the fact that the border arbitration belonged to the past. He said that it seemed to him that convening the council was more motivated by daily political reasons than by matters concerning national security.

The Croatian government on Tuesday resolutely rejected all allegations by Ljubljana about reported attempts by Zagreb to influence the work of Slovenian media.

The Andrej Plenković cabinet dismissed allegations that Tolj attempted to prevent the publication of a reportage on a "spy affair" as its mediator.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that it is not his government's policy to influence reports by Slovenian media outlets. "The Croatian government does not have the possibility nor the ambition nor is it our policy to influence any reports in Slovenian media," he told reporters at Zagreb's airport where he was waiting to welcome Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

"The arbitration procedure was irrevocably compromised because of the conduct by the Slovenian side," Plenković said. He added that Croatia wishes "to develop good relations with Slovenia and to resolve that issue. Our policy is a policy of dialogue."

Earlier on Tuesday, SOA dismissed reports published by the Slovenian 24ur media outlet as untrue and tendentious fabrications.

Following an inquiry from Hina, SOA says that it does not comment on media speculations and, responding to the inquiry, it stated that the articles published by 24ur were untrue and tendentious fabrications.

SOA perceives this as the continuation of a campaign by certain media outlets in Bosnia and Herzegovina which tried to discredit SOA and Croatia by disseminating false accusations about the attempted recruiting of Islamist extremists for arms smuggling through Bosnia and Herzegovina and unlawful activities which SOA allegedly conducted against neighbouring countries.

The failure of the Croatian-Slovenian border arbitration process is a judicial scandal, not an intelligence issue, and we reject this attempt to misrepresent arguments, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's office said on Tuesday, responding to Slovenia's claims that Croatia wiretapped Slovenian officials in the process in order to compromise it.

"The fact is that Slovenia breached the arbitration agreement and thereby international law, which resulted in the failure of the arbitration. That is a judicial scandal, not an intelligence issue, and we reject this attempt to misrepresent arguments," the president's office said in response to questions from the press for a comment.

In July 2015, it was revealed that the Slovenian member of the Arbitral Tribunal, Jernej Sekolec, and Slovenia's representative before the Tribunal, Simona Drenik, had been lobbying other arbiters to hand down a verdict in Slovenia's favour, and this prompted Croatia's representative in the process, Budislav Vukas, to resign with the explanation that Croatia believed that the arbitration procedure had been irreversibly compromised to such an extent that the Arbitral Tribunal was no longer capable of impartially deciding on the matter.

Later that year, the Croatian parliament unanimously decided that Croatia should walk out of international arbitration proceedings with Slovenia after secret phone conversations between Drenik and Sekolec, in which they discussed a strategy to influence judges deciding on the arbitration dispute, were leaked.

Croatia said at the time that Slovenia had irreparably compromised the arbitration proceedings as well as the subsequent ruling, and that talks should be launched to solve the border dispute bilaterally.

More news about the Croatia-Slovenia border issues can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 9, 2019 - The Croatian government on Tuesday resolutely rejected all allegations by Ljubljana about reported attempts by Zagreb to influence the work of Slovenian media. The Andrej Plenkovič cabinet dismissed allegations that Ivan Tolj, the head of the Styria publishing company in Croatia, attempted to prevent the publication of a reportage on a "spying affair" on behalf of the Croatian government.

Slovenian media accused the Croatian Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) of having wiretapped two Slovenian officials during a border arbitration process and claimed that Tolj was a government mediator in a bid to halt the publication of the reportage on the spy scandal by Slovenian media outlets.

The Croatian Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) on Tuesday also dismissed reports published by the Slovenian 24ur media outlet as untrue and tendentious fabrications.

Slovenia media accused SOA of having wiretapped two Slovenian officials during a border arbitration process and claimed that Ivan Tolj, the head of the Styria publishing company in Croatia, had tried to prevent the publication of a reportage on the affair.

Following an inquiry from Hina, SOA says that it does not comment on media speculations and, responding to the inquiry, it stated that the articles published by 24ur were untrue and tendentious fabrications.

SOA perceives this as the continuation of a campaign by certain media outlets in Bosnia and Herzegovina which tried to discredit SOA and Croatia by disseminating false accusations about the attempted recruiting of Islamist extremists for arms smuggling through Bosnia and Herzegovina and unlawful activities which SOA allegedly conducted against neighbouring countries.

More news about relations between Croatia and Slovenia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 4, 2019 - Prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina will not investigate persons named in an alleged intelligence scandal, which some of the local media and the security minister linked to Croatia's Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA), but will continue "working on the case", the Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Bosnia and Herzegovina Prosecutor's Office decided not to investigate the Deputy Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mijo Krešić, the journalist Mate Đaković and the General Consul of Croatia in Tuzla, Ivan Bandić," the statement emailed to Hina said.

The statement said that the decision was made based on inquiries after the news website Zurnal.info said that Krešić, Đaković and Bandić were involved in illegal activities connected with the recruitment of Bosnian nationals close to radical Islamist circles in that country.

After the opening of the investigation, investigators interviewed Đaković, Krešić, the journalist Avdo Avdić, who ran the story, Minister Mektić, and a person identified only by their initials C. H., whom SOA agents reportedly attempted to recruit. Also interviewed was one Midhat Hasanspahić and the chief of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA), Osman Mehmedagić.

"None of the witnesses heard, except Avdo Avdić who was not questioned about the affair because there are legal obstacles to his questioning, presented any knowledge of the involvement of the three persons in those activities," the Prosecutor's Office said in the statement.

Police agencies have told the Prosecutor's Office that they have no information about the activities reported by Zurnal.info. The website said that SOA agents were recruiting members of the Salafi movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina to plant weapons in their communities which were later to be used as evidence that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a stronghold of a large number of dangerous radical Islamists.

The Council of Ministers and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina had no such information either, the Prosecutor's Office said.

It noted, however, that some other questions had emerged during the inquiries, namely who were the persons who identified themselves as agents of security and intelligence agencies of other countries. The Prosecutor's Office will look into this matter in cooperation with the authorities in Croatia and Slovenia.

The statement said that the evidence and witness statements showed that the Ministry of Security did not have official information on the claims made in the Žurnal report at the time when Minister Mektić publicly confirmed their veracity.

"The Prosecutor's Office will continue working on the case," the statement said.

More news about relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 22, 2019 - After a three-hour session of the Croatian parliament's Home Affairs and National Security Committee, which discussed and adopted security services' reports for 2018, Security-Intelligence Agency (SOA) head Daniel Markić told reporters that he believed that he would clarify, together with the leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina's security-intelligence agency OSA, accusations that Croatian agents had recruited and armed radical Islamists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Markić resolutely dismissed the accusations by Bosnia and Herzegovina Security Minister Dragan Mektić that SOA had recruited members of the Salafi movement to plant weapons in Muslim places of worship so that they could be discovered by police following tip-offs as evidence of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's earlier claims about thousands of radical Islamists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"It is interesting, even shocking what is going on in Bosnia and Herzegovina.... So far, we have cooperated in the fight against terrorism with OSA, and SOA has only one interlocutor in Bosnia and Herzegovina - OSA... I hope we will clarify the matter," Markić told reporters.

He dismissed accusations that Croatian services had recruited and armed radical Islamists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "That definitely did not happen and I dismiss the accusations. SOA has naturally talked with those people and will continue to talk with them for the sake of our own and our neighbours' security, and the security of the EU and NATO," he said.

"We pointed to a person that was suspicious and said what that person was doing. We talked with H.C., we know who it is, and we informed the partner agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina about it.

"We received a clear answer from OSA but I leave it to them to comment," he said, declining to reveal OSA's answer and noting that he was willing to declassify SOA's findings if necessary.

He also dismissed accusations that SOA had sought cooperation from a number of persons in Croatia, threatening to deport them to Bosnia and Herzegovina if they refused.

Markić said that he would not meet with Mektić, who is in Zagreb for medical treatment. "We do not cooperate with Mr Mektić, he does not seem to have control over the intelligence community in Bosnia and Herzegovina," he said, adding that he was worried by the return of people who had fought on ISIL's side to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SOA estimates that around 1,000 Bosnia and Herzegovina nationals have fought on the side of ISIL. "Maybe 35% of them have returned, 30% have possibly been killed but we will check everything with our partners," said Markić.

Speaking of a recent terror attack on New Zealand, Markić said that there was no need to fear far-right radicalism in Croatia. "I don't believe that scene is active here," he said.

Regarding information that the killer from New Zealand had stayed in Croatia, Markić said that Croatian services cooperated with New Zealand's services and were exchanging information. "We do not, however, have any information that could indicate that he was involved in any negative activities in Croatia or that he had contacts that could have indicated what he would do," said Markić.

He added that SOA would publish by the end of the month a report with an overview of its activities and assessments for the future.

The chair of the Home Affairs and National Security Committee, Social Democrat Ranko Ostojić, said that all Committee members asked SOA officials very concrete questions to which they were given concrete answers and that they were satisfied with the information obtained.

As for the intelligence problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ostojić said that he would ask OSA for its position on the matter. "Markić was very specific and said that he still had not received any answer from the partner service, so I cannot comment for now.... Those who fail to provide arguments (for their claims) have a serious problem," he said, adding that the accusations coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina had been made for daily political purposes.

The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday did not discuss, contrary to earlier announcements, the alleged espionage scandal and accusations that Croatian intelligence agents had recruited members of the Salafi movement in the country to plant weapons in some of the Muslim places of worship in Zenica-Doboj Canton.

Prime Minister Denis Zvizdić did not offer an explanation as to why a report on the matter had not been submitted by Security Minister Mektić.

A week ago, Mektić accused his deputy Mijo Krešić, the Croatian consul in Tuzla, Ivan Bandić, and Serb entity RTRS public broadcaster reporter Mato Đaković of bribing members of the Salafi movement to hide weapons in some places of worship so that they could be later found by the country's police agencies and serve as evidence that radicals were arming themselves and threatening the country's security.

Zvizdić spoke of the importance of the return and prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina nationals currently fighting or imprisoned in Syria. "Considering unfair speculation about thousands of radical fighters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I have to say that in the last three years there were no departures of Bosnia and Herzegovina nationals to battlefields abroad. There are currently 102 Bosnia and Herzegovina nationals in Syria, of whom 54 are men and 48 are women," he said.

"If we have to, we will return them and prosecute them. We are controlling the situation and dismiss speculation that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a terrorist hotbed," said Zvizdić.

After a session of the Intelligence-Security Committee (OSO) today, Zvizdić's deputy Vjekoslav Bevanda called for supervision of OSA's work and for putting an end to media affairs such as the one on the alleged recruitment of radical Islamists by SOA.

Bevanda said in a statement that acts by individual members of the government were unacceptable, an evident allusion to Mektić.

He also said that recurrent intelligence affairs were worrying and that they were mostly directed against neighbouring countries. "I don't believe that it will lead to regional cooperation or good foreign or internal relations," Bevanda said after the session of OSO, a government body comprising the most senior government officials, which was also attended by OSA head Osman Mehmedagić but not by Mektić.

More news about relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 15, 2019 - Croatian PM Andrej Plenković reiterated on Friday that Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektić's accusations, that Croatian intelligence agents had been part of a covert operation aimed at showing that armed group of radical Islamists were active in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), were "nonsense" and "manipulation".

Mektić made the accusations on Wednesday, saying the operation was intended to justify Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's earlier claims that thousands of Islamic extremists in BiH pose a threat to regional security.

Mektić’s statements, "aside from the words 'nonsense', 'manipulation' and 'ill-intentioned claim', deserve no other additional or further comment," Plenković said at a cabinet meeting. "Croatia is a member of NATO and the European Union, a country which, together with other partners, is engaged in the fight against terrorism and, in that respect, will continue to cooperate with all the countries in its neighbourhood, including BiH, in a responsible manner," he added.

Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektić gave a statement to the State Prosecutor's Office on Friday as part of an investigation into his accusations that Croatian intelligence agents had recruited Bosnian citizens to plant weapons in Islamic places of worship in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Mektić told reporters later he maintained this information was correct and that the covert operation was not completed because it was uncovered and prevented by BiH's Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA). He said part of OSA's job was to "foil any attempt by a foreign intelligence service to infiltrate BiH."

Commenting on the resolute dismissal by Croatia's Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) of the accusations against it coming from BiH, Mektić said SOA was entitled to defend itself but that its denials should not be trusted.

Asked what he expected the BiH State Prosecutor's Office to do as part of the probe launched yesterday, Mektić said he did not know, yet that he expected nothing as he had no confidence in the Office and its prosecutors.

"Anything can be expected of them, but the only thing that can't be expected of them is to really fight against such problems," he said, adding that launching the probe was just a cover for an attempt to "protect relatives and friends and save someone's reputation."

More news on the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 15, 2019 - The Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency, Željko Komšić, said on Thursday that the country's security and intelligence agencies would be ordered to thoroughly investigate media reports that Croatian intelligence agents had allegedly tried to portray Bosnia and Herzegovina as a regional terrorist base, adding that appropriate steps would be taken if the reports proved to be true.

Commenting on media reports that Croatian intelligence agents had tried to recruit members of the radical Islamic Salafi movement to plant weapons in Islamic places of worship, which would then be used as evidence for claims that Bosnia and Herzegovina has become a stronghold of radical Islamists, and that Croatian diplomats were involved in this, Komšić said that only misinformed people could think that in today's world diplomats only dealt with development and promotion of diplomatic relations.

He said, however, that "a red line" should clearly be drawn to make it clear what is acceptable and what is not.

"Even in such activities there is a red line that must not be crossed. Today's visit by Andrej Plenković, the Prime Minister of Croatia, to Neum where a so-called political and scientific symposium was organised on the subject of amending the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution, still did not cross the red line although it showed a great lack of manners," Komšić said, without elaborating.

Komšić said that Bosnia and Herzegovina's police and intelligence services would thoroughly investigate the alleged armament of radical Islamists in the country by Croatian intelligence agents.

"If these allegations are confirmed as well-founded, Bosnia and Herzegovina will take the necessary measures without delay," Komšić said in a written statement.

More news about relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 14, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday said that an alleged espionage scandal, according to which Croatian intelligence agents and Croatian diplomats recruited radical Islamist groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to confirm claims by the authorities in Zagreb that thousands of extremists were hiding in BiH, was "nonsense and creative manipulation".

"This is creative manipulation. SOA (Croatia's intelligence agency) has already released a statement and entirely rejected those insinuations. That is nonsense that I wholly reject," Plenković said in Neum, where he attended a meeting on changes to Bosnia and Herzegovina's constitution.

According to him, it is even bigger nonsense to claim that Croatian diplomats were involved in the alleged espionage scandal. "They are here to do their job and not to be involved in anything else. I reject both claims," the prime minister said.

Plenković underscored that Croatia is combating terrorism and that it is cooperating with Bosnia and Herzegovina in that fight, considering it a partner. "Our entire cooperation with bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina that deal with this issue, notably anti-terrorist activities and information exchange, is regular and permanent. As far as I know, our agency requested the Bosnia and Herzegovina side to give its opinion on these allegations so that we get a broader picture," Plenković said.

Leader of the HDZ BH party Dragan Čović also commented on the affair, which allegedly involves a senior official of that party, Mijo Krešić, the deputy of Bosnia's Security Minister Dragan Mektić, who has publicly confirmed the allegations. Čović described the affair as activities launched by para-structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina and announced an investigation. "This is an insult to reason, just as the interpretation of events in parliament regarding the condemnation of the Chetnik gathering in Višegrad is insulting," Čović said. He added that numerous events in fact show that numerous illegal structures exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We have to be concerned about the existence of such groups, whether the one in Višegrad or elsewhere, but also about persons infiltrated in Bosnian institutions who are making up such things. We want those responsible to be called out but we are also aware that they won't be," Čović said.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's office said on Thursday it had no intention of commenting on the "petty political fabrications" by Bosnia and Herzegovina's security minister, while the Croatian Foreign Ministry said those claims were aimed at undermining the two countries' successful cooperation.

Grabar-Kitarović's office said it "has no intention at all of commenting on these ill-intentioned, entirely unfounded and petty political fabrications."

The Foreign Ministry said that "the entirely unfounded and extremely tendentious claims are evidently aimed at compromising the successful cooperation between the two states in the fight against terrorism and at negatively impacting the further development of overall relations between Croatia and BiH as two neighbourly and friendly states."

Croatia, as a member of the UN, EU, NATO and the Council of Europe, remains fully committed to the prevention of terrorism, in which it will continue to cooperate with its neighbours and international partners, the ministry added.

Croatia's Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) on Thursday dismissed as "untrue and malicious" the claims by Bosnia and Herzegovina's Security Minister Dragan Mektić that SOA had tried to recruit members of the radical Islamic Salafi movement to transfer weapons and explosives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding that Croatia was thus accused of aiding and abetting terrorism.

"The fight against terrorism is SOA's priority. We carry out all our anti-terrorism tasks professionally and responsibly with the aim of protecting Croatia, our EU and NATO allies and the whole of Europe," SOA said in a statement emailed to Hina.

"We believe that any political instrumentalisation of the fight against terrorism and of Bosnia and Herzegovina's intelligence community poses a serious risk to the security of Croatia, the EU, NATO and in particular Bosnia and Herzegovina itself," SOA said.

SOA has formally asked Bosnia and Herzegovina's Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) to declare its position on these false allegations, adding that it will inform its international partners of the matter.

More news about the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 14, 2019 - Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektić said on Wednesday that "Croatian intelligence agents" had been involved in a secret operation designed to show that armed groups of Islamic extremists were active in Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus justify earlier statements by Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović that there were thousands of Islamic extremists in Bosnia and Herzegovina who posed a threat to regional security.

Mektić said the persons directly involved in those activities were Croatia's consul-general in Tuzla, Ivan Bandić, and Republika Srpska Radio-Television reporter Mato Đaković, who is known as a person close to Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency chair Milorad Dodik.

"Over the past few years we have obtained information that the Croatian intelligence service has been working on recruiting our citizens... Croatia's consul in Tuzla, Ivan Bandić, and a number of other people were recruited for an intelligence operation regarding the armament of the local Salafis," Mektić was quoted by the Sarajevo-based news website Faktor as saying.

The minister gave the statement after another news website, Žurnal, earlier in the day ran an intricate story describing how Croatian intelligence agents threatened some Bosnia and Herzegovina nationals into taking weapons to Muslim places of worship in the country, which was then to be reported to police and the reports would have served as proof for claims about the danger of Islamic extremism.

Žurnal said that along with consul Bandić, also involved in the alleged operation was Deputy Security Minister Mijo Krešić of the Croat HDZ BiH party, recalling Krešić's repeated statements about numerous groups of Islamic extremists in Bosnia and Herzegovina numbering thousands of members.

The news website says reporter Mato Đaković acted as a linkman with the Bosnian Serb entity authorities which are also interested in exploiting theories about the danger of Islamic radicals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, offering as proof of Đaković's connection with consul Bandić his having used the consul's official car in Tuzla under suspicious circumstances.

Đaković allegedly saw to it that persons recruited by Croatian intelligence agents in the Serb entity took over the weapons.

Security Minister Mektić said that those allegations were true. "We followed the activities for a while... and foiled them. The person involved was reporter Mato Đaković, who even used Ivan Bandić's diplomatic vehicle for that purpose," Mektić said, adding that the entire intelligence operation was aimed at "brutally discrediting Bosnia and Herzegovina" and proving claims by the Croatian president that Bosnia and Herzegovina was a country where terrorist camps exist.

More news about relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 22, 2018 - Following claims by former presidential adviser Mate Radeljić that the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) was involved in his dismissal, the Office of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Saturday that no pressure had ever been exerted on anyone to resign.

"The Office of the President of the Republic most resolutely dismisses the malicious claims that pressure was ever exerted on anyone, either directly or indirectly to resign. In practice, only one signature is enough for an official to be dismissed or appointed at the Office, which makes the claims that it was necessary to inappropriately involve any third party all the more absurd and untrue," the President's Office said in a statement.

It added that the President chooses her aides in accordance with her policy goals and in the belief that they will perform their duties professionally and honourably, both during and after their term in office.

The President said she also expects all relevant services to follow the rules, laws, guidelines and professional standards in their work.

The President's Office announced in a press release on Friday morning that Mate Radeljić had been relieved of his duties as domestic policy adviser.

On Friday evening, Radeljić said in a press release that he had been threatened by the SOA and that he had been told by the President that he did not fit into her plans because he was an obstacle in her relations with the Prime Minister.

The SOA promptly dismissed his statement, saying that it operates in accordance with the constitution, the pertinent laws and the annual guidelines on the operation of the security and intelligence agencies adopted by the National Security Council.

More news on the so-called Mate Radeljić affair which has been in the media focus in recent days can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 22, 2018 - Mate Radeljić, whom President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović has relieved of his duties as domestic policy adviser, released a statement on his dismissal on Friday, saying he was threatened by the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) and that the president told him he did not fit her plans as he was an obstacle in her relations with the prime minister.

Radeljić said he wanted to inform the public about the circumstances that led to his dismissal and explain why he would not resign, adding that he was informed of the decision on his dismissal by Davor Franić, the chief of staff of SOA head Daniel Markić, in a Zagreb cafe on December 5.

Radeljić said Franić told him that Markić had instructed him to talk to him at the president's request, telling him that the president was renewing her office and that he would no longer serve as her adviser.

According to Radeljić, Franić said he had to let him know that the Security and Intelligence Agency "will protect the president in every way from my possible negative activity after leaving her office and that he was ready, if so instructed, to run into me with a car."

Radeljić said he immediately called the president and described what Franić had told him. "She was quiet for a few seconds and then said she didn't know what this was about and that she would immediately call... Markić."

Radeljić said Franić then told him they could wait to see if Markić would call him after the president called Markić, to see if he should "abort the mission." He said Markić did not call Franić and that they parted.

Radeljić went on to say that the president summoned him for a talk on December 10 and that she repeated what Franić had told him, "that she was renewing her office and I no longer fit into her plans because I was an obstacle in the relations with the prime minister."

Radeljić said he told the president that was her prerogative but that it was totally unfair that she informed him of her decision through a Security and Intelligence Agency staffer. He added the president said she had nothing to do with it and quoted her as saying that "Franić was stupid to meet me in a cafe."

Radeljić said he decided then that he would not resign because he would not accept the fact that his dismissal was announced to him by a senior intelligence officer and not the person who had appointed him.

Radeljić said the president was entitled to change her advisers as well as "her political direction" but that the way in which he was informed of her decision "doesn't do her honour."

More news on the Croatian president can be found in our Politics section.