Is it true that Tuđman and Milošević had a direct telephone line through a "black telephone" installed in president Tuđman's office?
Quote about the black phone:
"Thus, Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević had a direct telephone line (black telephone) through which they could discuss the fate of millions of South Slavs during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina at any time of the day or night.
– When did you hear that Slobodan Milošević spoke badly about Franjo Tuđman and vice versa? Back in 1991, a direct telephone line was established between the two. It was installed in Zagreb by experts from Serbia in 1990. When I became president in 2000, it was still active, I wanted to call Milosevic, but I didn't have a password. That's how it is in war. Those who plan the war cooperate, and those who do not know anything about it are killed – Stipe Mesić once said. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an independent non-profit organization, announced that after climbing Pantovčak, Mesic invited journalists to show them the phone that was on his desk and never rang. An investigation by the Croatian intelligence service followed, which confirmed that one line was directly connected to Milošević's office in Dedinje. In 2000, Mesic claimed that the relationship was broken after the departure of the first Croatian president, when a card for use disappeared under mysterious circumstances.“
Assertion for verification
Tudjman and Milosevic had a direct telephone line through a black telephone installed in President Tudjman's office.
Methodological notes
The analysis of this case was made because the disputed statement can affect the reader's image:
- that Presidents Tuđman and Milošević agreed on war activities during the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia,
- that they are thus co-responsible for all wartime human suffering and destruction, which
- calls into question the very essence of the defensive Homeland War for the freedom and independence of the Republic of Croatia.
At the same time, this statement needs to be verified from the position of the then newly elected President Stjepan Mesić, who potentially falsely accuses his predecessor, the first President of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tuđman. The disputed claim may also have a negative impact on the image of the professionalism of the Croatian intelligence and security services that worked on counterintelligence, physical and technical protection of President Tudjman's office and the functioning of the Office itself and its employees in general. Such activities fall under the domain of defence and military capabilities, intelligence operations, diplomacy and international relations, and information security.
For the purpose of the analysis, statements were requested from persons directly involved in the installation and maintenance of communication devices in the Office of President Tuđman, persons who made telephone calls for the purposes of the Office of the President of the Republic, persons who protected him on a daily basis and were with him, and persons who worked in the Office through various functions, cooperated with President Tuđman on a daily basis and represented him externally. Their statements authorized by e-mail are in the archives of the for on Hybrid Warfare Research Institute and are available for inspection as needed. Some of these people come from security and intelligence circles. For personal protection as well as GDPR provisions, their email addresses have been redacted. One of the former high-ranking HIS (Croatian foreign intelligence agency) employees with direct access to information agreed to give a statement on condition of complete anonymity. Although in fact-checking, as in science, anonymity is not methodologically correct because it prevents verifiability, it is possible to make an exception if the person and their statement are of utmost importance for establishing the truth, and there are justified reasons for anonymity. That is why we included the statement of an anonymous person in this analysis, and we called the person himself Person A. The authors of the analysis personally know Person A and have personally spoken to him. There is also an authorized statement of Person A, which can be shown to the Agency for Electronic Media upon request with the prior signing of the confidentiality statement.
Assertion Analysis
The claim that Tuđman and Milošević had a directly established telephone line via a black telephone was first made public by Stjepan Mesić in
March 2000. [2]. After the statement, Mesić let the journalists into his office and showed them a "
big black telephone set", saying that they were
interested in what all these telephone sets were for and the only thing they did not know was what the phone was for , so then the existence of a direct line with Milošević was discovered by HIS employees. He also said that it was no longer possible to make calls from that phone because the card that was inserted into it was missing, and it is assumed that no one used it after the death of Dr. Tudjman, and that the commission that examines Tudjman's safes with documents will check these days whether there are transcripts of conversations between Tudjman and Milosevic, i.e. any trace of their special telephone contact [3]. Mesić later repeated this story,
such as in 2013:
"Back in 1991, a direct telephone line was established between the two. It was installed in Zagreb by experts from Serbia. When I became president in 2000, it was still active, I wanted to call Milosevic, but I didn't have the code." [4]
In order to determine whether the story of the existence of a black telephone with a direct line between President Tuđman and Milošević is true or incorrect, it is necessary to determine whether such a telephone existed in the office of President Tuđman, whether the line was technically correct and whether it was a direct, privileged channel of communication. This can be tried to be determined by analyzing the documentation and testimonies of contemporaries who were close to the Office of President Tudjman at that time and those related to the alleged existence of a black telephone in it. The existence of documentation from which the existence and purpose of such a phone could be determined is currently unknown. What remains are testimonies that can be divided into two groups: people who confirm Mesić's claim and people who deny it. Since theoretically anyone can express their opinion on this topic, regardless of their role and knowledge, statements alone are not sufficient to determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of a statement. They can be true, untrue, incomplete or derived from an imprecise and fragmentary memory. Therefore, in assessing their credibility, the relevance of the persons who declare themselves is crucial, i.e. how close they were to President Tuđman and his office in the observed period, whether they had access to the space where the telephone would be located and what function and responsibility they had. An additional factor for assessing credibility is the existence of a certain motive, for example political or personal, for confirming or denying Mesić's claim. Possible motives are difficult to determine with certainty, unless the person explicitly states them and there is reason to be trusted in this regard. For this reason, this analysis does not deal with assumptions about one's motivation, but is limited to presenting the statements of relevant persons and their contradiction with each other. An important detail is that the statements mention different phones at different times.
Persons who confirm Mesić's statement in the media
Večernji list of March 23, 2000 quoted the statement of Damir Vargek, the chief of the cabinet of President Mesić, who stated that an employee of the HIS who installed the phone and confirmed its purpose contacted him, that Mr. Šarinić called him and told him "that he remembered that phone and that Milošević gave it to Tuđman", assuming that it could have been during their meeting in Karađorđevo and that the card used to put the phone into operation was not found and assumed it is said to be somewhere among the private affairs of President Tudjman [5].
Večernji list also published a statement by an unnamed "Večernjak's interlocutor who himself participated in the installation of that phone in the office of President Tudjman.:
"It is a phone that all the president's associates know was obtained from the 'other side'. This is a personal gift from Slobodan Milošević to Tudjman, after the meeting in Karađorđevo. Why they didn't think of it right away, ask the closest associates of the late president, even though they talked about that phone very often, precisely because of its origin." [6].
People who deny Mesić's statement in the media
In an article from March 2000 in which Mesic's first claim about this was published, there are statements by Vesna Škara Ožbolt, who has been in charge of public relations in the Office of the President since 1991, and Hrvoje Šarinić, who after the victory of the HDZ in the 1990 elections, first became the head of the cabinet and then the head of the Office of President Tudjman.
Škare Ožbolt stated:
"Such stories are outrageous. I've never heard of direct lines, and I worked in the Office of the President for ten years." [2].
Šarinić stated:
"As far as I know, there was no hot or red line. If it had existed, I believe that I, who was in charge of contacts with Milošević, would have known about it. My secretaries called Milošević's office, sometimes through Hungary, the lines were often broken and we had problems in this regard. I, of course, don't know everything, but whenever something happened, Tudjman would tell me to call Milosevic and I did." [2].
In June 2000, Šarinić stated [7]:
"For example, I called Milosevic on the phone when there were incidents in the so-called Yugoslavia. And especially when there were casualties. In such cases, Tudjman told me to call Milosevic and my secretaries tried in every way how to establish a connection. We have already practiced calling Milosevic through our embassy in Hungary."
"The fact is that the phone device existed, but as far as I know, that connection never worked! Of course, I don't know what happened when I left the Office of the President. If that connection worked, I would certainly use it and we wouldn't have to do all those acrobatics to reach Milošević by phone! The very establishment of the relationship was encouraged at the end of the conversation in Tikveš by Milošević, who claimed to have the best technique and promised to fix such a relationship. He later sent the famous phone, but none of our experts managed to put it into operation."
In the same interview, when asked "Did President Tudjman have direct telephone contacts with Milošević?", Šarinić answers:
"During my time in the Office of the President, as far as I know, President Tudjman did not have such contacts."
It is also necessary to mention the details that Hrvoje Šarinić mentions in his book [8]. Šarinić states that he had "thirteen conversations that he had, tête à tête, with Slobodan Milošević from 1993 to 1995.". Šarinić goes on to describe his first telephone and then physical contact with President Milošević, which was of a secret nature. He states that on November 9, 1993, at about 5:30 p.m., President Tuđman gave him the task of summoning Slobodan Milošević and seeing if he could meet with him and perform a very important task: to try to find a solution for the peaceful reintegration of the occupied parts of the Republic of Croatia into the Croatian constitutional and legal order. Šarinić, through his secretary, called Goran Milinović, the head of the cabinet of Slobodan Milošević, with whom he knew from numerous meetings at international conferences attended by both of them. These allegations by Šarinić are in accordance with statements to the media that President Tudjman did not speak by phone with Slobodan Milošević, but transferred this duty and obligation to Hrvoje Šarinić.
Krunislav Olujić, the former head of the National Security Office,
said that he had a telephone for encrypted communication on his desk, as did other senior officials. He expressed doubts about the existence of a direct connection between Pantovčak and Dedinje, stating that his conversations with President Tudjman via crypto-phone were announced in advance by the president's secretary [9].
From these statements it can be seen that Vesna Škare Ožbolt explicitly denies the existence of a direct connection with Milošević, Krunoslav Olujić doubts its existence, which does not explicitly deny it, but expresses an attitude closer to denying its existence, and Hrvoje Šarinić denies its existence and telephone contacts with Milošević through her, but says that there was a telephone but that none of our experts managed to put it into operation. The detail with "our experts" who failed to put the phone into operation contradicts Mesic's statement, who said that the phone was installed by experts from Serbia and that the connection was active. At the same time, on the basis of Šarinić's statements, the credibility of the claim that Tuđman had a direct, encrypted telephone connection with Milošević can be justifiably questioned. Namely, if in November 1993 President Tuđman asked Šarinić to call President Milošević and arrange a secret meeting with him in Belgrade in order to try to peacefully reintegrate the occupied territories of the Republic of Croatia into the Croatian constitutional and legal framework, then the question arises why he did not make such an invitation himself. Because, according to Mesić's claims, he had a direct, and encrypted one at that telephone connection with Milošević.
In the relationship between the statements of Mesić and Šarinić, these are opposing statements of a political opponent and a pronounced critic of Tudjman on the one hand, and one of Tudjman's closest associates on the other. It is also important that Mesic was not personally familiar with the internal functioning of Tudjman's office and telephone connections in it, but, according to him, the information presented to him was passed on to him by other persons. On the other hand, Šarinić is a relevant person in this case because he was in charge of establishing telephone communication with Milošević, which means that he has first-hand information, which gives his statement more weight. This does not automatically mean that Šarinić is right, but that his statement is more credible in the analytical sense. However, even with the inclusion of the other mentioned actors in the argumentation, this is still a limited number of available statements from the media. In addition, the aforementioned persons have opposing political views, which is why the analysis of their statements alone is not sufficient for a final conclusion. This indicates the need for additional, diverse and sources as independent as possible. In this case, the existence of completely independent sources remains open. Therefore, it is methodologically correct to refrain from a final conclusion for the time being and to continue the analysis with other details and an expanded list of relevant witnesses.
The existence of a black phone in President Tudjman's office
The basic question is whether there was a black telephone in the office of President Tudjman between March 25, 1991, when Tudjman and Milosevic held a meeting in Karadjordjevo, and mid-1993, when American Motorola "black" phones arrived at the Office of the President for the purposes of protected communication. Since in the first half of the nineties various Croatian officials in various state institutions had black phones that had the possibility of confidential conversations, it is important to determine:
a) Which model or models of telephones did President Tudjman have on his desk in 1991- 1993?
b) Who installed them?
c) In which office was the black phone located, since President Tudjman changed three office locations?
d) Whether the same phone with a direct connection to Tuđman was found in Milošević's office?
Phone Model
A statement about the phone model was given by the director of HIS, Ozren Žunec (in 2000.):
"It is a Philips pnvx 2017 crypto phone that can work in an unprotected mode where it behaves like an ordinary phone device and can be used to communicate with any telephone subscriber, and it is connected to a standard analogue telephone pair, i.e. the so-called direct or hot line is not necessary. To switch to protected mode, it is necessary to establish a connection with a device of the same type. Both devices must have the same codes programmed and chip cards inserted that allow them to initialize the encrypted communication." [10].
President Mesić showed (Picture 2) Philips phone. Gordan Akrap, former head of the HIS Operations Directorate, stated for the purpose of this analysis that in mid-1993, the Croatian intelligence community received about 80 pieces of black Motorola phones from the United States, probably the SECTEL 9600 model, for the purposes of protected/secret communication. Some of these phones were set up and put into operation in the office of President Tudjman. The phones ran on a coded key, not a card. In addition to President Tuđman and several of his closest associates in the Office of the President, they were attended by the Prime Minister, state ministers, the Chief of the General Staff, commanders of branches and branches, commanders of military areas, heads of services, heads of service operations and some ambassadors [11].
After Mesić's announcement about the existence of the black phone, Vesna Škare Ožbolt gave a statement to
Jutarnji list [3]. She stated that "
there are about 20 such phones in Croatia and they have, in addition to the President, state ministers, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Parliament, the head of the HIS and all the important ambassadors of Croatia in foreign countries" and that President Tudjman used it "f
or extremely confidential conversations with the Prime Minister and ambassadors, and the same apparatus exists in the former room of Hrvoje Šarinić". She also said that "
there is no card, but that the 'black phone' has its own key, that is, a code that is used to clear the line." Škare-Ožbolt also assumes that "
among the many phone numbers, the number of the Serbian president's office was memorized in the phone, and he suspects that those who reviewed the data mistook Milosevic's number for the number of the Croatian embassy in Belgrade. Memorized numbers can be read regardless of the key, which serves exclusively to secure conversations from eavesdropping." This statement by Škare Ožbolt from 2000 about the characteristics of the phone and who used it coincides with Akrap's statement from 2025 given on the occasion of the investigation of this case. But there is a difference in the characteristics of the phone. The Philips PNVX-2017 used a smart card with a chip and an associated PIN that, when inserted into the device, enabled the use of cryptographic protection of conversations [12]. The Motorola SECTEL 9600 used a physical key that, when inserted into the phone, also enabled the use of cryptographic protection of conversations [13]. This difference indicates that Mesić is referring to Philips, and Škare Ožbolt and Akrap to Motorola. According to
the available data on the Philips PNVX phone, it was manufactured in the Netherlands (1988) and initially served the needs of the armed forces of the Netherlands and NATO. After that, Philips decided to expand the market to other state services, and it was also produced under license by Germany and Austria. Therefore, it is likely that the targeted beneficiaries were also outside the usual Dutch and NATO structures, but within allied countries. The possibility, although theoretical, that at least two such devices arrived in Serbia in 1991 cannot be ruled out. However, given the security circumstances at the time and the limited information about its distribution during that period, the use of such a device for direct and confidential communication between the Presidents of Croatia and Serbia cannot be confirmed without additional evidence.
The important question is how experts in 2000 can determine that a certain phone used since 1991 has a direct connection to Milošević's office, that is, whether there is a forensic procedure that could determine this. One direction is the trace of the telephone line. However, according to witnesses, in the early 1990s there was no physical direct line to Serbia, but calls went through Hungary. Another direction is forensics of the phone itself, but it is not known if it was carried out and how. The third direction is call records, but during the research within this analysis, no such records were found, nor was it mentioned in the media. Relevant witnesses denied that conversations had taken place from which such records could have emerged. Although this does not necessarily mean that the records do not exist or that they did not exist, but it may be that they are not available or have not been identified, the circumstances point to the conclusion that such records do not exist and have never existed because direct telephone conversations between Tuđman and Milošević, as mentioned by Mesić, never took place.
Phone Installation
On one occasion,
Mesić stated that "
special teams of technicians from Belgrade came to Tudjman's office to set up that black telephone" [14], while
on another occasion he stated that "
an expert delegation from their police came from Belgrade and installed the telephone in '91" and that the officials of his office told him that it was "
a direct connection between Tudjman and Milosevic" [15]. Damir Vargek, the head of the cabinet of President Mesić,
said that a HIS employee who mounted the phone and confirmed its purpose came forward [4]. There is also a statement by Hrvoje Šarinić that the phone was mounted by HIS employees:
"The black phone, which is called scrambled or coded, was used for conversations with ambassadors because it could not be used to eavesdrop on conversations. About 40 high-ranking officials had such phones, and they were set up by experts from HIS. Whether they knew a way to eavesdrop on conversations, I don't know." [3].
Mesic's, Vargek's and Šarinić's statements do not coincide in the detail that says who installed the phone. Mesić says that it was done by special forces, i.e. an expert delegation of the police from Belgrade, and Vargek and Šarinić that it was installed by HIS employees. HIS employees could not install the phones in 1991 because HIS did not exist at that time. The Croatian Intelligence Service (HIS) was established within the Office for National Security (UNS), which on
March 21, 1993 was established by the decision of the President of the Republic of Croatia [16]. UNS was not the legal successor of any institution, so HIS neither inherited nor took over anyone's employees. This means that there is no possibility that this HIS employee in technical domain was an employee of some other intelligence and security service in 1991, which is mentioned as the year when, according to them, this telephone was installed. Therefore, Vargek's statement that he was contacted by a HIS employee who installed the phone and confirmed its purpose cannot be true if it is about the installation of the phone in 1991, and it can be true if it is about the installation of the phone in 1993. If it is about 1993, then that telephone was not used to establish a direct line between Tuđman and Milošević. If it is 1991, then the phone was not installed by a HIS employee. In any variant, Vargek's statement cannot be correct. Hrvoje Šarinić's statement that such telephones were installed by experts from HIS may be correct, because according to the description, Šarinić is talking about Motorolas, which were installed in mid-1993, which is confirmed by the statements of Škare-Ožbolt and Akrap. The details, provided so far, eliminates the possibility that there was confusion in that Mesić was showing the wrong phone and that the disputed "black phone" was actually a Motorola.
Phone Location
The Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia (UPRH) was first in Visoko Street, and then at the end of 1990 it moved to Banski Dvori, where it remained until October 7, 1991, when Banski Dvori object was rocketed by planes by the Yugoslav People's Army in an attempt to assassinate President Tuđman. After that, the Office was moved to Pantovčak. Mesić claims that the telephone was installed after a meeting in Karadjordjevo that took place on March 25, 1991, and that it existed throughout the war. This claim implies that the phone was installed immediately after that meeting, which means that the phone was then installed in the UPRH in Banski Dvori. However, Mesić showed it at Pantovčak. If the same device was transferred from Banski dvori to Pantovčak, the question arises as to who moved it and when, especially considering the circumstances after the attempted assassination of President Tudjman by a JNA rocket attack. That is, the question is, if it was installed in Banski Dvori by Milošević's experts from Belgrade, as Mesić claims, who uninstalled it in Banski Dvori after the rocket attack and reinstalled it on Pantovčak? If they installed it directly on Pantovčak, then it did not happen immediately after the meeting in Karadjordjevo, but at least six to seven months later. The timeline of the UPRH's locations calls into question the veracity of Mesic's claims that the phone was installed by experts from Belgrade after the meeting in Karađorđevo and that the connection existed throughout the war. It is also unlikely, even completely unbelievable, that Milošević's experts from Belgrade would come to the rocket-devastated Banski dvori in order to professionally uninstall the device and reinstall it in the new office of President Tudjman in Pantovčak.
A statement about the existence of such a connection in Milošević's office was found
by Goran Svilanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from November 2000 to April 2004. When asked whether similar materials such as a direct telephone line had been found in Belgrade after the change of government, he replied in May 2001 that they did not have that kind of information yet and that he did not know whether it would eventually surface. [2].
The time when the Philips phone appeared in the president's office
Motorola Sectel 9600 phones were found to have arrived in Croatia in mid-1993. For the Philips PNVX-2017 phone, by reviewing the photos that were available as part of this analysis, it was determined that it was first seen on Tudjman's desk at least at the end of 1996, in mid-1997. That this is at least the end of 1996 is evidenced by the appearance of President Tudjman, from which it is clear that he is ill. In November 1996, medical findings indicated a malignant disease, after which he went to the United States for medical treatment. It is more likely that the picture was taken in 1997 during or after receiving chemotherapy. This analysis did not determine how and when that phone appeared on Tudjman's desk. One assumption is that he may be connected to someone who cared about his health because he is not in photographs from the previous time at any location of the UPRH before the discovery of the disease.
Statements of persons from President Tudjman's inner circle
For the purpose of this analysis, statements were requested from persons who, according to their functions they held, are competent to make statements about the circumstances relevant to the case under analysis. Their functions at the time of the event are listed with each statement. The persons were asked whether they were aware that President Tudjman had a telephone with a direct connection to President Milošević and talked to Milošević by this phone. These are:
- Vjekoslav Brajević
- Krešimir Kašpar
- Zdravka Bušić
- Person A
- Mile Ćuk
- Robert Travaš
- Gordan Radin
- Tihomir Vinković.
Statement by Vjekoslav Brajević
Vjekoslav Brajević was the contact person for liaison between the HDZ and the then Republic Secretariat for Internal Affairs (today's Ministry of the Interior) from January 1990, and from May 1991 the head of the 6th Department of the Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order (Croatian counterintelligence agency), in charge of the security of protected persons and facilities, i.e. the head, primarily of counter-intelligence protection of the President of the Republic until his death.
"I am not aware that President Tudjman had a telephone intended for encrypted communication with President Milošević. I do not know, and I think it was impossible, especially at that time in 1990-1992, that such a telephone, intended for encrypted communication between President Tuđman and President Milošević, would be placed in the Office by employees of the Serbian intelligence community. President Tudjman used a "black" Motorola phone brought by HIS employees when he wanted to communicate in a protected way with some of the Croatian officials. He also had a portable version of such a phone, which General Kašpar carried when he went on a trip abroad." [18]
Statement by Krešimir Kašpar
Krešimir Kašpar is a retired Major General, Head of the Military Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Croatia from October 1992 to March 1994 and Aide to the President of the Republic of Croatia from March 1994 to May 2000.
"I do not know that President Tudjman had a telephone with which he communicated with President Milošević. In mid-1993, we received black Motorola phones that were encrypted by HIS employees who were the only ones who maintained and periodically checked them.
My tasks were not related to the communication of the President in Croatia, but when President Tudjman went on a trip, and especially abroad, I carried the so-called "black" phone in a special suitcase, which enabled President Tudjman to have encrypted conversations with various interlocutors in Croatia.
I do not know that President Tudjman ever spoke to President Milošević with the telephone that allegedly secretly enabled them to do so. I also do not know that in the Office of the President of the Republic there was a telephone that President Milošević gave to President Tuđman at a meeting in Karadjordjevo." [19]
Statement by Zdravka Bušić
Zdravka Bušić was the head of the Office of President Tuđman from May 1990 until mid-1995, when she became an advisor to President Tuđman for emigration.
"The only 'black phone' that President Tudjman ever had in his office was a black Motorola, which was obtained from an American donation in mid-1993. (Zdravka Bušić in the offered photos recognized and labeled the Motorola 9600 as that black phone; n. ATHENS). On President Tudjman's desk, while he was in Visoko Street and Banski Dvori (until October 7, 1991) and until mid-1993, there was not a single telephone other than an ordinary office phone, which is visible in President Tudjman's photographs at his desk.
The phone devices shown in the published photo were never on the president's desk, or on any other desk in his office. I have never seen such and such arranged telephone devices in the president's office in Pantovčak.
And as far as the conversation with Milosevic is concerned, I can responsibly say that President Tudjman never spoke to him on the phone. All calls related to Milosevic went through the head of the Office of the President, Mr. Šarinić, who spoke with his chief of staff. President Tudjman was too proud to talk to Milosevic on the phone.
And to conclude, upon returning from meetings with Slobodan Milosevic, President Tudjman did not bring any telephone devices, nor did "experts" from Serbia ever come to install any telephone device." [20]
Statement by A
Person A had been an employee of HIS in charge of programming and maintaining the protected telephone communication system since mid-1992.
"HIS (its Directorate for Science and Technology) was in charge of ensuring President Tudjman's communications. In mid-1993, HIS received a large number of Motorola crypto-phones that were programmed, connected and delivered to various users in the state administration: the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Prime Minister, state ministers, heads of services from the intelligence community, within the intelligence community and the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia, as well as certain diplomatic and consular missions. From that phone, it was not possible under any circumstances to communicate with anyone other than the phones that were part of that network. There was no phone connected to President Milosevic in that network. Therefore, it could not be used for such an activity. There is no possibility that any telephone was installed by anyone outside the Croatian services, which, in addition to installing communication devices in the Office, also carried out anti-eavesdropping inspections. It is absolutely impossible for anyone from Serbia to enter these premises and install any devices.
HIS was the only one to operate the phones for secure communication, and there is no question of anyone else doing it even in the time before HIS. I don't remember a Philips phone, but it was only a Motorola phone that was part of the American donation of a large number of these phones in 1993.
In July 1999, at the insistence and demand from the United States, President Tudjman accepted the takeover of a Motorola crypto-phone, of a newer type. The Americans justified this by the necessity of establishing a communication link between Tudjman, Izetbegović, Milošević and the American embassies in Zagreb and Belgrade at the highest level. The phone was received, set up, but no crypto keys were ever entered into it, it was never tested, it was never booted up, and it was never used. No device has ever been spotted or existed that originated in Serbia as stated in this article." [21]
Statement by Mile Ćuk
Mile Ćuk is a retired Lieutenant General, Head of Personal Security of President Tuđman, Aide to the President of the Republic of Croatia since September 1992, Commander of the 1st Croatian Guard Corps from its establishment in February 1994 to January 2000, and Director of the Security Headquarters at the Office for National Security of the Republic of Croatia from its establishment until January 2000.
"In mid-1989, I began to take care about the personal safety of the then president of the HDZ, and later the president of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tuđman. I accompanied him to almost all the meetings he had in Croatia and abroad at the time you mention: in 1991 and 1992. I was also his immediate companion during the entire meeting in Karadjordjevo. I claim that President Tudjman did not receive a single device from President Milosevic or any other member of the Serbian delegation. Also, no one from the delegation that was there received any device (especially not a telephone) that the technical service was supposed to install in the cabinet of President Tudjman in order to talk to President Milošević." [22]
Statement by Robert Travaš
From 1990 to 1992, Robert Travaš held the position of Assistant Head of the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia.
"I am not aware that President Tudjman had a telephone intended for encrypted communication with President Milošević. I also do not know that President Tuđman ever spoke on the phone with President Milošević from the Office of the President of the Republic."[23]
Statement by Gordan Radin
Gordan Radin was the Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Croatia from 1995 to 2000.
"I am not aware that President Tudjman had a telephone intended for encrypted communication with President Milošević. I also do not know that President Tudjman ever spoke to President Milošević on the phone. The encrypted Motorola phone, the so-called "black" phone, was maintained by HIS employees, who were the only ones who had access to the device because they set it up as well as other phones in the Office. As far as I know, if President Tudjman wanted to talk to someone using an encrypted connection, he would call one of the secretaries who would call that person, launch a program for encrypting conversations and hand over the phone to President Tudjman. On his travels abroad, he was accompanied by General Kašpar, who had such a Motorola in a portable suitcase, with which President Tudjman talked, with us in the Office, but also with state officials when he needed it." [24]
Interview with Tihomir Vinković
Tihomir Vinković was President Tudjman's secretary for public relations from March 1996.
ATHENS: Did Tudjman ever mention a direct telephone line with Milosevic or the need for it?
Vinković: NO.
ATHENS: Did Tudjman receive a phone call from Milosevic after the meeting in Karadjordjevo? Vinković: I don't know.
ATHENS: Did Tudjman have a black phone on his desk or in a room in his office in 1991, regardless of the meeting in Karadjordjevo and Milošević?
Vinković: Yes.
ATHENS: If it did, what brand of phone was it?
Vinković: American – Motorola
ATHENS: Where exactly was that phone? (desk, separate room, safe, etc.)
Vinković: Desk.
ATHENS: Did the phone have special markings or was it different from other devices in the office? Vinković: The color is black.
ATHENS: Who edited it?
Vinković: I don't know, but certainly authorized persons.
ATHENS: Who knows who edited it? (Are there any witnesses to the editing?)
Vinkovič: I don't know (probably the head of the cabinet).
ATHENS: Is there a possibility that it was mounted by special forces from Belgrade?
Vinković: I don't think so.
ATHENS: Who knew about that phone?
Vinković: The phone was on the table (I don't know if anyone was paying attention because there were no conversations in that room).
ATHENS: Has Tudjman ever been seen talking to Milosevic on the black phone?
Vinković: Someone saw it and when?
ATHENS: Did the phone have buttons with direct dialing (e.g. only one contact for Milošević)?
Vinković: Not with Milošević.
ATHENS: Did anyone have to prepare the talks between Tudjman and Milosevic or were they called spontaneously?
Vinković: They didn't call themselves.
ATHENS: Were records kept of these calls (logs, logs, operators)?
Vinković: Unknown because there were no such talks.
ATHENS: Was Tudjman the only one allowed to use that phone, or could others have used it?
Vinković: The President did not personally use the Black Phone on his own.
ATHENS: If so, who were those people?
Vinković: Cabinet employees.
ATHENS: Was the existence of such a telephone discussed in a narrow circle or was it a taboo subject?
Vinković: No one even mentioned it.
ATHENS: Were there any reactions from others in the president's office when the phone was installed, i.e. Has anyone refused to participate in actions related to that phone?
Vinković: No one even mentioned it or talked about a special relationship with Milošević.
ATHENS: If such a phone existed, did anyone try to cover it up, when and why?
Vinković: To my knowledge, no one mentioned the telephone for communication exclusively with Milošević, nor did it exist. [25]
Discussion of statements
Mesić and Vargek do not have direct technical knowledge of the functioning of Tudjman's communications or the procedural framework of Tudjman's external communications. Their statements are based on the claims of alleged third parties who have not been named. On the other hand, Šarinić and Ožbolt gave certain technical and procedural details. The new statements significantly expand these details and reveal further details in this regard. The persons who made statements for the purpose of this analysis have operational and technical experience in managing Tudjman's communications and have direct insight into the physical infrastructure, specific procedures and call records. From their statements, it can be seen that there is a consensus that there was neither a dedicated telephone nor a direct telephone line between Tudjman and Milosevic. All of these persons operated within the office of President Tudjman, so one could object to possible bias. However, they belong to a small circle of people who are relevant and credible because they have directly participated in the work of President Tudjman's office and competent because they have technical and operational knowledge of communication procedures in it. They present exactly such details that are familiar to them from the field of their work, and not political or political interpretations.
The lack of publicly available additional statements, and thus their analytical processing, which support the claim under verification is noticeable. The reason lies in the fact that no additional statement of the relevant witness to the event was found in the media. Also, it is not known who are those witnesses because the identity of the persons who, according to Mesić, explained the nature of the Philips phone has not been published (except for Prof. Ozren Žunec), so they could not be contacted. In the end, it is not the number of statements in favor of one of the parties that is decisive here, but the relevance of the added content, which is manifested in the type of insight into the communications in the office of President Tuđman, the level of expertise of the declarants and the verifiability of the said information. According to this criterion, new statements have a stronger analytical and concluding value.
Determination of the existence of a direct telephone line
The important question is how experts in 2000 can determine that a certain phone used since 1991, had a direct connection to Milošević's office. With other words, whether there was a forensic procedure that could determine this.
There are/were three directions of verification:
1. Trace of the telephone line: according to witnesses, in the early 1990s there was no physical direct line to Serbia from the President’s Office, but calls went through Hungary.
2. Forensic analysis of the phone itself, which is mentioned as the phone used for conversations between the two presidents: it is not known whether this analysis was carried out and in what way.
3. Call records: during this research, no such records were found, nor was it mentioned in the media or mentioned by the interlocutors. Relevant witnesses denied that conversations had taken place from which such records could have emerged. Although this does not necessarily mean that the record does not exist or did not exist, but it may be that it is not available or has not been identified. The circumstances point to the conclusion that such records do not exist and never have existed because direct telephone conversations between Tuđman and Milošević, as mentioned by Mesić, never took place.
Photo comparison
There are numerous photographs of President Tudjman at his desk in all three offices he used (in Visoko Street, in Banski Dvori and Pantovčak) on which there are telephones. The following were reviewed:
- photographs of the UPRH from the time of President Tudjman that we found on the Internet,
- in publicly available printed publications
- and photographs provided by Zdravka Bušić.
Three photographs relevant to the analysis of this case have been selected. Večernji list published a photo of the table (photo 1) showing a Motorola phone in the lower left part of the table. Feral Tribune published a photo showing Stjepan Mesic showing journalists a black phone that he claims is a direct link to Milosevic (Figure 2). The picture shows a Philips phone, and Motorola is not visible because Mesić covers it with his body. Therefore, it can be concluded that Mesić shows the Philips phone as the one from which, according to him, Presidents Tuđman and Milošević spoke. The earliest photograph of Tuđman with the Philips phone that we found dates from the end of 1996 or the beginning of 1997 (Figure 3). It is possible that there are more photos and that one of them shows a Philips phone in the time before the end of 1996, but within this analysis such a photo was not found.
Conclusion
The claim of Express, which refers to Mesić's statement, is not supported by any evidence. The only person who supports Mesic's statement is his chief of staff, but it has been established that it cannot be true in any variant. On the other hand, the statements of competent persons of various profiles and responsibilities from President Tudjman's circle deny the story of the existence of a telephone for direct secret communication between Tudjman and Milosevic since 1991. In addition to the persons who made statements as former employees of the office of President Tuđman in various positions, statements were also made by persons who had direct operational insight into the technical and security infrastructure of communications in the office of President Tuđman. There is a consensus among them that there was no direct telephone connection between Tudjman and Milosevic and that there was no possibility of a situation in which anyone outside the narrow circle of local experts would install telephones in the office of President Tudjman, let alone someone from Belgrade or Milošević's circle.
Also, none of them personally or from anyone else heard that Tudjman personally called Milosevic on the phone. No evidence of this has come from Belgrade either. The changes in the location of the office also do not support the claim that the telephone was installed by experts from Belgrade and that this line functioned all the time from 1991 to 2000. Based on the statements of users and witnesses of the use of Motorola phones and the technical characteristics of the phone, it can be concluded that this model was not used for direct communication with Milošević. Mesic showed the Philips PNVX model to journalists, but no one remembers that phone, and it was first spotted in photographs at the end of 1996 or mid-1997 at the earliest, which indicates that President Tudjman had not used the phone since 1991. Since telephone calls to President Tudjman were made by persons from his office, it is not realistic that this telephone was located in another room or hidden, so that President Tudjman used it in secret until no one could see or hear it. One of the witnesses of the event states the existence of a Motorola device that was delivered only in the second half of 1999 and which, according to the idea from the United States, was supposed to be used for direct communication between Presidents Tudjman and Milosevic, but that phone was never put into operation and does not refer to an earlier period.
The key findings of this analysis are:
- statements by relevant persons denying the existence of the so-called black telephone since 1991 in the office of President Tuđman and the related direct line to the office of Slobodan Milošević
- the absence of credible witnesses to corroborate such a line
- contradictory witness statements confirming the existence of a black phone and a direct line, in particular with regard to the discrepancy as to who installed the device and in what period
- technical circumstances that make it impossible to physically establish a direct line in the period under review
- the lack of photographs confirming the presence of such a device before the end of 1996 or mid-1997.
- the lack of documented call records to indicate its existence.
Based on these findings, and in the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, this analysis concludes that the claim of an existence and usage of direct (and encrypted) telephone line between President Tudjman and President Milosevic, made through a black telephone installed in President Tudjman's office, is untrue.
Therefore, the statement made in the article are untrue and lead readers to wrong conclusions.
Zagreb, August 7, 2025
Roman Domović, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Gordan Akrap
Photographs
Picture 1. Phones on the desk in the Office of President Mesić [26].
Picture 2. Stjepan Mesic shows a black phone that he claims is a direct link to Milosevic in Belgrade [27]
Picture 3. Black Philips and Motorola phones next to Tudjman's desk [28].
Sources
[1] Filip Sulimanec. Hello, is that Franjo? A special telephone with which Tuđman and Milošević shaped the Balkans. Express, 22.5.2025.
[2] Bisera Lušić. Tudjman and Milosevic had a direct telephone connection for years! Slobodna Dalmacija, 17.2.2000.
[3] Helena Puljiz. Mesic: Tudjman had a direct telephone line with Milosevic. Jutarnji list, 17.3.2000.
[4] Marko Biočina. Mesić: Tuđman and Milošević were on a direct phone throughout the war. Večernji list, 29.03.2013.
[5] jp. Vargek: Šarinić remembered that Milosevic gave the phone to Tudjman in Karadjordjevo. Večernji list, 23.3.2000., p. 3.
[6] Tanja Božić. The famous "black" phone was personally given to Tudjman by Milošević. Večernji list, 25.3.2000., p. 29.
[7] Hrvoje Šarinić. Tudjman's transcripts are authentic and come out of several centers. Večernji list, 2.6.2000., p. 7.
[8] Hrvoje Šarinić. All My Secret Negotiations with Slobodan Milosevic: Between War and Diplomacy: 1993 - 1995 (1998), p. 13 and 21-33. Zagreb: Globus International, 1999.
[9] Ana Konta. Through Motorola's Iridium satellite system, Tudjman spoke to Milosevic for $7 a minute. Arena, 30.3.2000.
[10] From a telephone such as Tudjman's, one can talk to anyone. Večernji list, 25.3.2000., p. 32.
[11] Statement by Gordan Akrap for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[12] Crypto Museum. PNVX.
[13] Crypto Museum. SECTEL 9600.
[14] Slavica Lukić. Mesic responds to accusations that he is a traitor for testifying in The Hague, but also reveals the details of the famous meeting between Tudjman and Milosevic. Jutarnji list, 23.12.2017.
[15] Dragan Štavljanin. Mesic: I said to Genscher, 'Serbia will also be bathed in blood'. Radio Free Europe, 26.11.2018.
Radio Free Europe. Mesić: Tito is the greatest political figure in our area. Youtube, 26.11.2018.
[16] Miroslav Tuđman. HIS: 1993 – 1998. The first five years of the Croatian Intelligence Service. National Security and the Future, Proceedings, Volume 1, 2001.
[17] Anamarija Mlačak. Black telephone, safes and underground bunkers: All the secrets of Pantovčak. 24 Hours, 22.8.2015.
[18] Vjekoslav Brajević's statement for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[19] Statement by Krešimir Kašpar for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[20] Statement by Zdravka Bušić for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[21] Statement by Person A for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[22] Statement by Mile Ćuk for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[23] Statement by Robert Travas for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[24] Gordan Radin's statement for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[25] Interview with Tihomir Vinković for the ATENA project for the purpose of this analysis. Archive of the Institute for Research on Hybrid Conflicts.
[26] Večernji list no. 13103, p. 29, 25.3.2000.
[27] Feral Tribune no. 757, p. 3, 18.3.2000.
[28] Ante Tomić. Tudjman's academic legacy is still alive. Today, in Osijek, it is easier to get a doctor's degree than the coronavirus. Jutarnji list, 26.6.2021.