General Breedlove visits the Republic of Croatia

On Tuesday, 18 March, General Bredlove met with the Deputy Defence Minister, Višnja Tafra and the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, General Drago Lovrić.

Deputy Defence Minister Višnja Tafra extended appreciation to General Breedlove for visiting Croatia on the occasion of the 5th Anniversary of Croatian membership in NATO. “We take it as NATO’s direct support to smaller and young NATO members. NATO Alliance is the principal and the strongest pillar of defence, as has been before and will remain so”, stated Ms Tafra.

General Lovrić and General Breedlove discussed the current NATO-led peace support operations where the Republic of Croatia is present too, the regional co-operation and co-operation of Croatia with the neighbouring countries, development of NATO capabilities and the projects within the „Smart Defence“ Initiative.
The meeting was followed by the presentation of medals to the meriting officers and non-commissioned officers – Lt. Col. Zlatan Sever of the Support Command, Major Andrija Mihanović of the Special Operations Battalion, 1st Lt. Željko Vuk of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Sergeant First Class Alen Janeš of the Special Operations Battalion, First Sergeant Dalibor Bošnjak of the Simulation Centre of the Croatian Army and Staff Sergeant Željko Vinščak of the International Military Operations Training Centre

Tuesday afternoon General Breedlove is meeting with the President of the Republic of Croatia, Ivo Josipović and the Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Joško Klisović.

On Wednesday, 19 March 2014 General Breedlove is visiting Split, to visit the Croatian Navy and attend the 3rd Central Europe Chiefs of Defense Conference, which is organised by the EUCOM.