NATO Secretary-General praised contribution of Croatian Armed Forces in Afghanistan

NATO Secretary General, on Friday, April 30,  at the press conference after talks with Prime Minister Kosor said that North Atlantic Treaty Organization highly values Croatian contribution to the mission in Afghanistan, saying that Croatian troops are doing a great job. He emphasized that the goal of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan was to train members of the Afghan forces so that they themselves took responsibility for security in their country. “Our goal is to give the Afghans the responsibility to themselves when circumstances permit it. It is therefore extremely important to train Afghan security forces so that they have acquired the necessary capabilities”, Rasmussen said. “We highly appreciate the participation of the Croatian Armed Forces in the mission in Afghanistan”, NATO Secretary General said.
In addition to involvement in peacekeeping missions, the main focus of the talks were the situation in south-eastern Europe, and the potential Croatia’s jobs associated with equipping the NATO forces. Rasmussen said that he saw all Balkans countries as a future member of NATO, and to which tackling with new challenges, the main task of territorial defence of all member countries would stay as a main task since an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all its members.
In a two-day visit to Croatia NATO Secretary-General also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Gordan Jandrokovic and Defence Minister Branko Vukelic. The discussion was on the new strategic concept of NATO and Croatian contribution to peacekeeping missions.