Bozinovic and Foley signed an agreement on the donation of funds for the destruction of obsolete weapons

This is an agreement by which it continues with the activities of the disposal and destruction of surplus obsolete anti-aircraft systems (known as MANPADS systems), for which the American side, on the basis of previously signed Implementation Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the United States in 2008 , has already donated one million U.S. dollars. The value of the donation agreement signed today is also one million dollars, these financial resources will be used, except for the destruction of surplus non-perspective portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems, to modernize and raise the standards of safety storage facilities of explosive ordnance.

After the signing, the U.S. ambassador Foley said in a media statement that this agreement on the destruction and disposal of surplus anti-aircraft system was a very important step in reducing the threats caused by illegal use of these systems, but also the contribution to the safety of civil aviation worldwide. “This agreement demonstrates our mutual interest that the said systems to be destroyed as soon as possible, to avoid it to come to the wrong hands, Foley said, adding that the key to combating such threats was good international cooperation. In this context he stressed the strong partnership between Croatia and the United States in terms of security and defence cooperation. “We are pleased that we can help the Croatian authorities through our partnership to address this complex and financially demanding work. This donation worth one million dollars is our contribution in addressing this challenge and this is just one step how we can help to resolve this important safety issue”, Ambassador Foley said.

Minister Bozinovic said that the funds that the U.S. government donates to Croatia would be spent for destroying obsolete explosive ordnance, and partly to increase the security of warehouse facilities. He also noted that the Croatian Government in recent years had invested significant funds for these purposes, in the last year nearly 35 million kunas, which includes the construction and modernization of warehouse for explosive ordnance. “Obsolete explosive ordnance is a problem because most of them are remnants of the Homeland War”, Bozinovic said, adding that solving this problem was ongoing, as with the U.S. Government, as well as with other partners. “We are cooperating with the International Trust Fund, which brings together donors who are willing to allocate funds for these purposes, and United States is also among the largest donors there. We will continue to strive together with our American partners to do everything to expedite this process”, Bozinovic said. He also added that the goal is to annually destroy about 1000 of a total of 17 000 tonnes of non-perspective explosive ordnance, and the funds donated by the U.S. will certainly help to achieve this goal.