Commanders of Croatian and Italian Navy decorated
The ceremony of delivering medals to commanders of the Croatian and the Italian Navy took place in the Croatian Ministry of Defence in Zagreb on Wednesday, February 17. The ceremony attended Minister of Defence Branko Vukelic, MOD State Secretary Pjer Simunovic and other senior representatives of the Ministry of Defence, as well as, representatives of the Italian Republic, led by Ambassador to Croatia Alessandro Pignatti Morano di Custoza and Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Paolo La Roso.
Because of the success achieved and the high level of mutual cooperation between the two Adriatic states and two Navies, and in accordance with the decision of the President, Minister of Defence presented the Chief of General Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Paolo La Roso with the medal “Order of Prince Trpimir ruffled and Morning Star.”
Commander of the Croatian Navy Rear Admiral Ante Urlic, by the decision of General Staff of the Italian Armed Forces, was awarded with the Medal of Honour of the Italian Armed Forces, which he was presented by Admiral La Roso.
In his address, Minister Vukelic expressed his satisfaction and gratitude to the previous good cooperation between the two friendly navies. He stressed the contribution of the Italian Navy in supporting Croatia to join the “Maritime Traffic Centre” program and stressed that the Republic of Croatia thanks on the support of Italy for Croatia to became the co-founder and one of the first signatories of this agreement in 2006 in Venice. Admiral La Roso in his speech thanked for the given award and pointed out that he was honoured to attend the ceremony, which was the result of close cooperation between our two countries and navies. The Admiral especially thanked Admiral Urlic for the last year’s reception in the Croatian Navy during which they together paid honour to sailors killed in the battle at the Prirovo cemetery on the Vis island, which was the first time that the Italian Navy Commander laid a wreath at the memorial to the dead in the sea battle of the then opposing sides in the Adriatic Sea – Austro-Hungary and the Italian Navy fleet. Admiral Urlic at the end thanked for the given trust and recognized efforts to achieve common goals of the two navies.
Cooperation between Croatian and Italian Navy is manifested through the Adrion Initiative (cooperation between countries of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas), V-RMTC Project (Virtual regional centre for monitoring maritime traffic), exchange of sailors and exchange of information on all ships sailing on the Adriatic Sea.