Croatia – U.S. Defence Consultations

The Consultations, held biannually, were focussed on the security and defence aspects of mutual significance, underlining the need for continued and enhanced defence co-operation, particularly through joint training events, military exercises and deployments, as well as  through the U.S. security assistance programmes provided to Croatia to help it further upgrade its defence capabilities. Assistant Minister Drča emphasised that the United States remained the Croatia’s strategic partner, both with respect to the national requirements and the contribution to the collective Alliance capabilities alike. The two sides agreed that the future co-operation would be directed on fulfilling the objectives outlined in the Long-term Development Plan of the Croatian Armed Forces for the period 2015-2024.

The delegations also exchanged the views on an array of topics related to the security at the regional and global level (i.e. the situation in the South-east Europe and the ongoing defence co-operation in the countries of the region, the currrent developments in Ukraine, the Middle East and the North Africa) and agreed on the need to continue joint engagement in Afghanistan to facilitate the security and reconstruction of the country in the post-2014 period.  

Also considered were the conclusions of the recent NATO Summit, and the importance of the Readiness Action Plan, the role of the United States in the security of Europe, the importance of the agreed defence budget proportions for the maintenance of the Alliance’s defence capabilities, the relations with the partner coutnries, with the emphasis on the Alliance membership aspirants from South-east
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