SPECIAL GUESTS OF THE VILLA BRIJUNKA Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor will be on a private visit on the Brijuni islands to the end of the week, and was invited to the Villa Brijunka by Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka KosorAfter the recent visit of the family of Serbian President Boris Tadic, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor has also decided to spend a part of his summer vacation on the Brijuni islands. Pahor arrived at the Brijuni islands by boat recently, and is lodged at the Villa Brijunka, where he is to send the coming few days. The Slovenian prime minister is on the Brijuni islands at the invitation of Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, with whom he has established exceptionally good relations over the past year, and arrived at the Brijuni islands immediately following his meeting with the Croatian prime minister at Lake Bohinj in Slovenia, where they hammered out an agreement in principle that would resolve the issue of the return of the debt owed by the Ljubljanska Bank.

BUT PAHOR IS NOT THE ONLY foreign dignitary who will visit the Brijuni islands this summer. Slovakian President Ivan Gasparovic, who has summered on the islands for years, is scheduled to arrive soon, and Austrian President Heinz Fischer is also expected. Unlike Pahor, Gasparovic and Fischer are coming to the Brijuni islands at the invitation of Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, from which it can be deduced that he and the prime minister have agreed to stick to hierarchy when inviting foreign dignitaries. It can also be concluded that the Brijuni islands have this year earned the status of chief summer destination for vacationing political leaders from the region and wider. Georgy Poltavchenko, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's personal envoy to the Central Federal District and one of his closest aids, is also slated to vacation on the Brijuni islands. Poltavchenko was one of the key figures in the lengthy negotiations between Croatia and Russia on joining the major Southern Stream natural gas pipeline project, and is known as a good friend of former Zagreb Mayor Vlasta Pavic. And while it was rumoured in Croatia that the family of Serbian President Boris Tadic was very pleased with their recent vacation on the Brijuni islands, so much so that they decided to visit the island archipelago again this year, it appears that this will not happen.

As Nacional has learned, the Serbian President could in fact summer again on the Brijuni islands, but next year at the soonest. It is paradoxical that foreign dignitaries are delighted to spend summer vacations at our official residences, while Croatia politicians shy away from the possibility. State residences in Croatia are empty most of the year, and instead of making use of them, our politicians, it seems, are afraid that it could give them a bad public image and opt instead for various private arrangements. Last year then newly-appointed Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor paid her own summer holiday at a hotel on the island of Brac, and President Ivo Josipovic is spending his first summer vacation at the post in his family home in Baska Voda.

UNDER PUBLIC PRESSURE a demagogic attitude has been created whereby politicians, as a result of a seeming thriftiness, earn the sympathy of voters - but the fact is that Croatia will not only not save money this way, but that these kinds of vacations will actually be more expensive. The president and prime minister, namely, as the two persons holding the highest political posts in the country, should also be the best protected people in the country, appropriate to their functions. That means that, besides the duties and privileges that come with the job, they also had to get used to a 24-hour special security detail. For the president and the prime minister their summer holiday, which is their own business, does not mean that their security detail will also take a holiday, quite the opposite - their job is even more demanding and difficult because protected persons can find themselves in more dangerous situations in informal settings than when carrying out their political duties in a secure environment.

SUMMER HOUSE ON THE ISLAND OF BRAC Former Prime Minister Ivica Racan with his wife Dijana Plestina preferred to spend his summer vacations at his summer house in Pucisce on the island of BracFOR SECURITY REASONS the Ministry of the Interior could not answer our question as to how many persons where on the president's and prime minister's security teams during their summer vacations, but it is certainly more than two or three people. In fact, there are probably over ten people assigned to the security detail, since one team cannot work for 24 hours a day, and there have to be at least two or three teams working shifts. And all these people also have to be lodged somewhere. Besides the personal security detail, top state officials are also covered by a second tier of security from the local police force. This is why, for security reasons, and because of lodging capacity, it is best if top state officials stay at official state residences, because it is assumed that these residences are already in secure positions, and they have premises foreseen for members of the security teams and accompanying staff. The cost of lodging Croatian security forces is then nil, and the president and prime minister pay the cost of accommodation for themselves and their families.

In the perception of the average person these probably are relatively small sums, but it is a much greater expenditure for Croatia if the president pays his own hotel accommodation several hundred or thousand kuna more, because the bill for hotel accommodation for every member of the security detail and accompanying staff will have to be covered by the state. The same goes if the official decides to stay in private residences, since it is hard to imagine that somebody's typical house can house a dozen members of a security team.

THE RESIDENCE ON THE ISLAND OF HVAR This year former President Stjepan Mesic has abandoned the idea of spending his summer vacation at the official residence on the island of Hvar, where he would pay the cost of his accommodation himself, as he did while the president - where Mesic will spend his summer vacation this year remains unknownEVEN IF PRESIDENT Josipovic could lodge the two closest members of his security detail at his house in Baska Voda, all the rest would have to sleep at hotels or in a rented private residence, although this is not the practice. The price of an overnight stay at hotels in Baska Voda runs from a minimum of fifty euro per person for half board in a double room, up to over 100 euro. The price of a private apartment for four persons at a location near the Josipovic residence starts at around 100 euro, which comes to 25 euro per person, but his price does not include food. With the cost of food the sum would again come to at least 50 euro per person. If, then, we assume that at least ten people are travelling with the president, and there are probably a lot more, the cost of their accommodation would be at least 500 euro a day.

If they were lodged at an official state residence their accommodation would be free, and they would probably have a cook to prepare their food or would cook themselves, while the president would have to pay his own accommodation. President Ivo Josipovic has told Nacional that he would summer at Baska Voda because he wants to be with his family and parents, whom he has seen very rarely over the past six months. But he also claims that this kind of holiday is cheaper for the state. "In a time of crisis I feel that it is proper to cover the cost of one's own holiday oneself. It is true that there is a certain cost for the accommodation of my very modest security detail at Baska Voda, but it is incomparably cheaper than occupying an official residence, which is associated with the arrival of a larger entourage of office staff, food costs, technical and other expenses." Ivo Josipovic did say that he would use official residences only for official needs, meetings and talks with a number of foreign dignitaries, because he wants to send a strong message to the international public of the beauty of the Croatian seaboard and contribute to the promotion of tourism by receiving them on the Adriatic coast.

GUESTS OF TITO AND JOVANKA Josip Broz Tito brought top world leaders and movie stars to the Brijuni islandsWHEN ALL THESE FACTS are taken into consideration it is clear why former President Stjepan Mesic was so irked and exasperated when the press tried to call into question his right to use the state residence on the island of Hvar. The residence was used by Stjepan Mesic while he was president, and he has this to say to Nacional about it: "I paid the summer vacation on Hvar for myself and my family, but the police and security had free accommodation there. I felt that it was best that I spend my summer vacation there, to cover my own costs, and that the cost to the state in the end be less, because the residence has premises and services foreseen for members of the security teams. I wanted to summer now at the state residence on Hvar for the same reason, but top HDZ officials in the form of the sagacious Hebrang and even wiser Skare-Ozbolt raised a furore so let them figure a solution out now. Because I will not spend my summer vacation at the state residence on Hvar now, but rather elsewhere and, thank God, I have invitations from all around and offers of accommodation along the entire Adriatic coast. I cannot now, however, do anything to influence the cost of accommodation for my entourage."

In his sarcastic style Stjepan Mesic also concluded that Government ought to figure out how much it will cost or simply decide that former president's do not require security teams. "Besides, if I am killed, the cost of my funeral would be less than if I were the incumbent president so there would be savings even on that."

FOR THE 26 DAYS he intended to stay on Hvar, Stjepan Mesic would have paid the state treasury about 14,300 kuna, i.e. 250 kuna a day for a suite and 154 for a room. As it is the cost of four weeks hotel accommodation for all of the people in his entourage will be significantly higher. Besides the president and prime minister, the official residences can be used by the speaker of Parliament, the president of the Supreme Court and the president of the Constitutional Court and their guests. Besides Vladimir Bakaric's former villa on the island of Hvar, now an official summer residence, top officials and their guests can use the much more luxurious accommodations at the state residence on the Brijuni islands. When it comes to security the Brijuni islands location is the best residence because the island is guarded by the army, and there is no need to engage the services of the local police, as is the case with other official residences, i.e. when top officials are lodged at hotels or private apartments or houses.

Unlike at the official residence on Hvar where the security stays on the basement of the former Bakaric villa, at Brijuni the members of the security detail, the entourage, staff and protocol personnel have two villas at their disposal, the Bijela Villa and the Villa Brijunka. The accommodation capacity at these villas would not be sufficient only if several foreign dignitaries were to visit at once, but then they have the use of the nearby lower category hotel. Besides being the most beautiful and most secure residences, the Brijuni islands location are therefore the least expensive destination for the holidays of top officials when it comes to the cost to the national treasury, and top-ranking foreign politicians also frequent it at the invitation of our politicians. Former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito received world leaders and renowned figures at the residence, people like Sophia Loren. Even Franjo Tudjman enjoyed the Brijuni islands. But since much of the public at large consider the Brijuni islands a luxury residence, and a stay there as yet another of the perks enjoyed by politicians, our politicians seem to shrink from staying there. They probably fear being labelled luxury lovers, but the truth of the matter is that it is a greater cost to the state coffers when a high-ranking national official vacations in their own private house. Even former President Stjepan Mesic never used the Brijuni residence privately, and it is clear that President Ivo Josipovic and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor have no intention of using it either.

PRIVATE TRAVEL PACKAGE After taking up the reins of government as prime minister in July of last year, Jadranka Kosor summered with friends at a hotel on the island of Brac, and covered the cost of her own accommodationIvo Josipovic has, for his part, invited Serbian President Boris Tadic as his personal guest to the residence, who has not managed as yet to come, but Josipovic did play host to Tadic's wife and daughters Vanja and Masa. Serbian President Boris Tadic, says his spokesperson Jasmina Stojanov, not taken a vacation since coming into office.

THE SITUATION IS SIMILAR with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, who will this summer take his first vacation since assuming the post. According to the information provided by his office he will summer in the Slovenian and Croatian parts of the Istrian peninsula. Slovenian President Danilo Turk will also vacation privately. And like in Croatia, Slovenian politicians live in their own houses or apartments, and the office of the Slovenian president has told us that Slovenia does not in fact have a residence for the nation's president. As a result their president, unlike the prime minister of Serbia, lives in a private apartment. Boris Tadic, however, lives in the state residence, the Dedinje villa. This practice is a tradition in countries like Great Britain and the USA, and the British prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer live at Downing Street, while the US president lives at the world's best known house - the White House. And just like vacations, for personal security it is much better for a country's president to live at a residence, and among neighbouring countries this has become the customary practice in Serbia, and the Dedinja villa is also home to the country's defence minister. Residences are usually located in elite parts of town and are much easier to protect than residential buildings in the downtown core.

THE CROATIAN PRESIDENT could live at the official presidential residence on Pantovcak Street, but since it was never meant for permanent residence that is currently not a possibility. There is a villa in Zagreb on Visoka Street that could, if so decided, serve as the residence of one of the top national officials. But, at least in Croatia, top officials have a respectable selection of state residences to spend their summer vacations at. Besides on the Brijuni islands and on Hvar, there is the Villa Dalmacija in Split and the Villa Dubrovnik on the island of Lopud. President Ivo Josipovic recently, motivated by the recession, decided to sleep at the Lora military base in Split, which is good because the members of the security detail were able to stay there too. But it is the opinion of the interior ministry, as explained by Krunoslav Borovec, the head of the minister's public relations department, that protected persons should not adjust their lives to suit security but that security should adapt to the protected person and be at its best possible service in all possible and impossible conditions.