Zagreb - US President George W Bush is scheduled to arrive in Zagreb Friday evening for a two-day visit to Croatia, in a show of support a day after it was invited to join NATO.

Immediately upon his arrival, Bush is expected to meet President Stjepan Mesic for a dinner representing the national cuisine, along with selected wines and cheeses, sources said.

Invited to attend are Croatia's outstanding sports figures, including football coach Slaven Bilic, former European and NBA basketball star Dino Radja and high-jump champion Blanka Vlasic.

Saturday morning Bush is due to speak to a selected crowd at the downtown St Marko square, before lunching with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and "NATO invitees" and departing Croatia.

The square, nestled between parliament and government buildings, is legally off limits for public gatherings, but Croatia authorities are violating the rule in honour of Bush's visit, reports said.

Unprecedented security measures have already been put in place a day before Bush's arrival, along with the last-minute beautification, including the laying of fresh asphalt over relevant streets.

Cars were being towed away from locations the US president is due to pass and members of anti-globalist organizations were being being rounded up for questioning by police and bluntly discouraged from holding a planned protest at US policies, reports said.

Croatian Interior Minister Berislav Roncevic initially banned the anti-Bush protest, due to be held at downtown venue but out of the guest's sight, but recanted the decision on the intervention by Sanader.

A reported 60 aircraft is to control the skies above the Croatian capital and several hundred US secret service agents have swarmed Zagreb since earlier this week to the joy of selected taxi drivers put at their disposal for 250 euros (390 dollars) per day.

Bush is the first US president on an official visit to Zagreb since Croatia split from Yugoslavia in 1991. Richard Nixon visited in 1971 and Bill Clinton briefly met the late Croatian president Franjo Tudjman on the military airport in Zagreb a dozen years ago. (dpa)