Bozinovic met UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations

During the meeting Bozinovic recalled the previous significant involvement of CAF members in the UN peacekeeping missions. 120 members of the Croatian Armed Forces have been currently deployed in the seven UN missions around the world. The Minister also stressed the possibilities of training of the UN forces in Croatia, but also the possibility of equipping for the UN operations with the Croatian military equipment – from helmets, uniforms and rifles up to the armoured vehicles. On this occasion, Minister Bozinovic acquainted Undersecretary Le Roy and his colleagues with more details on our training facilities and the products of Croatian military industry. An arrival of the UN expert team to Croatia has been agreed which would assess the possibilities of holding training courses for the UN officers in Croatian training centres, and it is expected that a team of experts would also review the possibilities of the Croatian military industry.

The UN particularly stressed the professional engagement of Croatian troops in peacekeeping missions, particularly the UN mission on Golan Heights with 95 Croatian soldiers, where the situation on the ground, after recent events in Syria, has been extremely difficult.

Bozinovic and Le Roy talked about the situation in Southeast Europe, but also about the formation of the new UN mission that has been currently prepared after the independence of Southern Sudan, given that the current UN mission in Sudan involved four CAF officers.

Since 1999 to date more than 1200 members of the Croatian Armed Forces participated in 17 different UN peacekeeping missions.