Minister Vukelic attends NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting in Brussels
The meeting of defence ministers of NATO countries, at which also participate Croatian Defence Minister Branko Vukelic, began today, on Thursday, 10 June 2010, in Brussels by the meeting of the North Atlantic Council and a discussion of prioritizing the defence resources.
NATO Secretary General Andreas Fogh Rasmussen briefed the ministers on the effects of measures relating to the prioritization and resource planning, which was directly supporting the development of strategic capabilities and management of allied missions and operations.
In his remarks, Minister Vukelic has supported efforts to improve the process of resource management and implementation aspects of resource considerations when making decisions.
In the second part of today’s meeting, defence ministers from NATO discussed the KFOR mission in Kosovo and the continuation of the planned reduction of troops on the ground in the coming period. Minister Vukelic stressed in the debate the satisfaction of the Republic of Croatia with improving political and security situation in Kosovo and supported further gradual reduction of international forces in KFOR. But the Minister also stressed that NATO’s military presence in Kosovo remains necessary and indispensable for peace and stability in the region.