Defence Minister attends Wales Summit
The Croatian Defence Minister, Ante Kotromanović, is attending the NATO Summit of heads of state and government held in Newport, Wales, on 4 and 5 September 2014, as member of the Croatian delegation, along with heads of state and government , foreign ministers and defence ministers from 60 Allied and partner countries.
The Summit taking place in a challenging moment characterised by grave crisis in Ukraine and to the Southeast, it is expected to confirm the resoluteness its members to strengthen the Alliance’s collective defence and support the funding for capabilities ensuring NATO’s readiness to address the current and future security challenges. The focus of the Summit will be placed on strenghtening of the transatlantic bond between Europe and North America and the necessity of attaining the required level of defence funding and even distribution of security burden among the member nations.
The Summit’s timing coincides with the completion of one of the NATO’s longest operations – the ISAF in Afghanistan. Although not a Summit deciding on enlargement, it is expected to result in decisions affecting the open door policy and enhancing of the co-operation with the partners worldwide.