Defence Minister meets EDA Executive Director

The Minister pointed out iin the discussion that the Republic of Croatia’s accession into the European Union constitutes a foreign policy priority, and the participation in the Common Security and Defence Policy is viewed as one of the main instruments of security of Europe, its close neighbourhood and of the international security in general.
Also, the European Defence Agency is seen as the key platform and mechanism to incite and facilitate future development of the European defence capabilities, which attains special relevance in view of the defence budget constraints or further reductions. The Minister also stated that the Republic of Croatia is ready to accede the European Defence Agency along with the Union itself. The Republic of Croatia supports the future development of Pooling and Sharing, important primarily in view of Croatia’s funding difficulties to develop some of the capabilities, and also highlights the necessary complementarity with the NATO’s Smart Defence initiative. The Croatian side enquired about the possibility of receiving expert and financial assistance with building Croatia’s maritime capacities and capabilities. In this regard, the Minister stressed the importance of the strategic location of the Adriatic Sea both for Croatia and the overall EU security.
The European Defence Agency was established in 2004 and was tasked with enhancing the defence capability of the European Union, particularly in the domain of crisis management and fostering of the Common Security and Defence Policy. The EDA provides the framework for pooling and sharing the capabilities of the member countries and also the expert support and advice on financial, legal and contractual matters.