Chief of German Armed Forces visits Croatia and CAF

Upon arrival in Zagreb today, 5 December 2012, General Wieker was welcomed at the administrative headquarters of the MOD and GS. After the welcoming ceremony, delegations of the Croatian and German Armed Forces, led by the Chiefs of General Staff Lieutenant General Drago Lovrić and General Volker Wieker held an official meeting, and the German delegation was also received by the Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović.

Talks covered areas of bilateral military cooperation, multilateral cooperation, and opportunities to participate in joint projects of mutual interest.

Germany and its armed forces play one of the leading roles in NATO ISAF and KFOR operations in which members of the Croatian Armed Forces have been also involved. From the very beginning of our participation in these operations, cooperation with Germany and its support given in preparations and in operations was very valuable.

Germany is also the leading country in the EU BG 2012/II (EU battle group) in which CAF also participate, and we have also considerable cooperation within the EU operation Atalanta. In this context, the Croatian side expressed the ambition to join the battle group led by Germany in the second half of the 2016.

One of the topics discussed was the military-technical cooperation between the two countries and their armed forces. Cooperation in this area so far has been very well developed, and talks were on the possibilities of improving cooperation in specific areas and projects of interest to both countries. During today’s meeting, the German side has offered assistance for further development and implementation of technical cooperation.

Once again, it was concluded that the level of cooperation in the field of training and education was at a high level, but that there are opportunities to participate in additional projects, which would allow better preparation of the Croatian Armed Forces to participate in joint operations with other allies and partners within NATO and EU framework.

During tomorrow, General Volker Wieker will visit the Croatian Army.