[ELECTION 2005] Police (In)Action

Partly because to Christmas, and partly because of the predictability of the contest, few Croatians take much interest in presidential elections. Even the media seem to ignore it. First sign that some kind of presidential contest is happening might be found in TV ads paid by two major candidates. Those who miss those ads won't miss much. Both candidates appear to be bland – while this isn't suprising for Kosor, Stipe Mesić (Stipe Mesic), one of greatest jokesters among Croatian politicians, is disappointing while he tries to look presidential.

More interesting events, as usual, are happening thanks to candidates who don't have a slightest chance of winning. One of them is Ljubo Ćesić-Rojs (Ljubo Cesic-Rojs), former general of Croatian Army, controversial businessman and icon of Croatian far right.

During his rally in Vukovar he addressed the crowds and said that he had heard with General Ante Gotovina and extended his greetings. It took some time for Croatian authorities to act on those words. Gotovina, a war crimes suspect, is not only Croatia's most wanted man, but also one of the reasons for Croatia to be denied entry to EU. Sanader's government has said that it would do anything in order to bring Gotovina in and hand him over to Hague. Not only government, but also every Croatian citizen, presidential candidates included, is obliged to cooperate with Hague and help bringing war crimes suspects to custody.

If Rojs is to be taken by his word, than he can help establishing Gotovina's whereabouts.

When asked whether Croatian police would interrogate Rojs, Zlatko Mehun, Croatia's Ministry of Interiors spokesman, said that police was "trying to reach Rojs".

On the other hand, Marko Marinić (Marko Marinic), spokesman of Rojs' campaign, said that Croatian police didn't need to "reach Rojs" because Rojs, just as any other presidential candidate, enjoyed police escort.