Conference of Central Europe’s Chiefs of armed forces

Co-organizers of the Conference were the Commander of the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Commander of Allied Command Operations (SHAPE) Admiral James Stavridis and Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Hungary, General Tibor Benko. Besides representatives from EUCOM, Hungary and Croatia, the conference was also attended by chiefs of the armed forces of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

During the conference the discussion was on the issues related to the region, including regional efforts to strengthen stability and collective security, and participation in operations with a focus on capacity building and maintenance of joint capabilities.

On the sidelines of the conference, Chief of CAF General Staff met Admiral James Stavridis. During the talks, General Lovric thanked for significant support from the United States provided to the Republic of Croatia on its path to Euro-Atlantic integrations. He also noted that the Croatian Armed Forces shall continue to participate in operations in Afghanistan and in Kosovo in accordance with relevant decisions of the Croatian Parliament, and emphasized the successful and efficient regional cooperation and joint activities in the ISAF operation.

Admiral Stavridis congratulated Croatia on the signing of the European Union Accession Treaty. He also thanked for their valuable contribution of Croatia to NATO operations and pointed out a significant Croatian role in stabilizing the region and in efforts provided in initiatives for joint activities of countries from the region.