Final draft of the National Security Strategy
The final draft National Security Strategy was presented at the sixth session of the drafzting Commission held on 5 June in the Croatian Defence Academy “Dr. Franjo Tuđman”.
The session was chaired by the main authority of the drafting, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Damir Krstičević, who underlined that the procedure engaged over 150 experts to compose a relevant Strategy and create a comprehensive, cost-effective and effective system.
The Commission was established pursuant to the decision of the Croatian Government, dated 3 November 2016, comprising the expert staff from various ministries and other goverment administration bodies, from the Office of the President of the Republic, from security and intelligence system of the Republic of Croatia and other entities.
The Commission has held five sessions since its founding in November, the last one presented the third draft Strategy, which was made available to the concerned public for 30-day e-consultations (from 28 April to 28 May 2017) April and May 2017 saw a series of roundtable sessions with media representatives, the defence attachés from NATO and partner countries, the representatives of the Croatian Generals Association, civilian associations, the research and academic community, the representatives from the domain of protection and security, and the Ministry of the Homeland War Veterans held a roundtable with the associations of defenders from the Homeland War.
The National Security Strategy is a fundamental strategic document defining the policies and tools to achieve national interests and providing security conditions to enable a balanced and continuous development of the country and the society.
The development of the National Security Strategy is a continuous process commiting each incoming Croatian Government to propose a National Security Strategy through co-ordinated efforts with the President of the Republic, and the Croatian Parliament to adopt it.
The draft entails a novity – the proposal for the Government to report annually to the Croatian Parliament on the implementation of the National Security Strategy.
The fourth draft National Security Strategy will be sent to the Croatian Government, and the adoption by the Parliament is due in 2017.