Director-General of EU Military Staff visits Croatian Military Academy

General Van Osch was received by the HVU Director Major General Mirko Sundov and Commander of the War College Brigadier General Slaven Zdilar. A short presentation followed about the structure, role and history of HVU, which was presented by the HVU Dean Colonel Zeljko Akrap.
The central part of the visit was devoted to the lecture of General Van Osch to participants of War College “Ban Josip Jelacic” entitled “The Role of the Armed Forces in the European Union”. The lecture was held under the subject “Military strategy and operations”, with emphasis on crisis response systems used in the EU.
As the greatest achievement of the EU defence and security system, Van Osch mentioned progress in what is now called “comprehensive approach”, military cooperation with civilian structures of the EU in implementing a wide variety of activities. As concrete example of this cooperation he mentioned the EU operation in Somalia. Also, EUMS Director said that the development of common defence and security capabilities of the EU was very important, because one can not expect that NATO will resolve all security problems related to the EU countries.
When talking about the Republic of Croatia, Van Osch praised previous involvement in peacekeeping operations of the EU, as well as the participation of the CAF in the EU Battle Groups. “I support and I am looking forward to Croatia’s accession to full EU membership”, Dutch general said.
EUMS task is advising office of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton. They are responsible for the direct warnings on possible security problems, and conducting strategic planning and assessment of the situation. EUMS today plays a key role in developing the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union, as well as the implementation of operations and peacekeeping missions under the authority of the EU. EUMS is the only permanent integrated military structure of the EU, and is part of the European external action service (EEAS). EUMS gets tasks from the EU Military Committee, a body that consists of the chiefs of general staff of the armed forces of member countries.