Croatian officials have rejected reports that the government is planning to sell the Brijuni islands. Croatian president Stipe Mesic said on Monday that the islands were a national treasure, quashing media reports last week they were on sale for EUR 2.5 billion.

“The Brioni islands are not for sale, nor is it possible, because they are a national park,” president was quoted as saying on Monday by Zagreb daily Jutarnji.

The 14-island archipelago, a few kilometres off the Croatian mainland, is famous for its crystal blue waters and verdant scenery.

The archipelago is known as the Polynesia of the Adriatic and also home to the remains of pre-Christian Roman settlements and fossilised dinosaur prints.

Many world statesman including late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru were hosted by Tito there, so were US president Franklin Roosevelt's wife Eleanor, the Italian screen legend Sophia Loren, and British actors Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

The Brijuni islands lie south of the north-eastern Italian port city of Trieste. Like Istria, they were under Italian control between 1921 and the end of the World War Two when they became a part of Yugoslavia.

Slovenian daily Dnevnik and Trieste daily Piccolo first reported that Croatia plans to sell the islands, describing them as “one of last cards up the sleeve of a desperate government”.

Independent, British daily newspaper said at the weekend that “debt-laden Croatia was ready to sell the archipelago because its foreign investments have collapsed and national output had slumped five percent in a year”.