Inaugural visit of Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Pjer Simunovic received on 13 January 2011in inaugural visit the newly-appointed Dutch Ambassador to Croatia, Stella Ronner-Grubacic.
At the meeting they discussed the bilateral cooperation between Croatia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Ambassador was accompanied by the Military Attaché of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Colonel Frederick Besselink, who after the official meeting, received the “Order of the Croatian Trefoil” for the merits in the development of bilateral military cooperation between Croatia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, awarded by the President and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Ivo Josipovic.
Colonel Besselink joined the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1981 in the artillery branch. During his military career he held a number of duties ranging from artillery platoon commander, deputy commander of the artillery battalion, company commander in the Royal Military Academy, to duties in the missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan. Colonel Besselnik has been accredited as a military attaché of the Kingdom of Netherlands in the Republic of Croatia since 25 July 2007.