Kotromanović received U.S. Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus

During the meeting both sides confirmed the good bilateral relations between the two countries and discussed the recent NATO Summit in Chicago, the concept of “Smart Defence” and its application, the issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in maritime security, the new U.S. defense strategy, etc.

Minister Kotromanović expressed particular gratitude to the United States for the strong support for the development of the Croatian capabilities and stressed that cooperation in security and defence, in particular, the cooperation in military education, training and equipment occupies one of the central position and has great significance for the overall bilateral relations between Croatia and the U.S. As an example of good cooperation, the Minister pointed out overhauling of the U.S. Navy’s 6^th fleet flagship “USS Mount Whitney,” in the “Viktor Lenac” shipyard and recently held “Immediate Response” military exercise.

Minister Kotromanović commented on the recent NATO Summit held in Chicago, and congratulated the U.S. on the successful organization of the Summit, emphasizing that this Summit confirmed NATO’s irreplaceable role in maintaining security. The Minister stressed that the Summit in Chicago clearly confirmed the commitment of the allies for Alliance revitalization as well as for the aspirations of developing the necessary capabilities to respond to security challenges of the 21^st century. In this sense, new models and concepts necessary for maintaining capabilities in terms of the financial crisis have been confirmed, where Croatia as a small country has great expectations from the concept of “Smart Defence”. The Minister also said that we have currently chosen to participate in the six projects from the first group of “Smart Defence” projects, and that we have been already actively working on some of them, such as the joint Croatian-Czech helicopter training mentoring teams.

Minister Kotromanović particularly stressed the satisfaction with the clear consensus of the allies over the issue of enlargement, and stated that we fully share the views expressed by the U.S. for the next Summit to be an opportunity to continue the process of enlargement.

Secretary Ray Mabus said that the United States in its new national defense strategy put the focus on the Pacific region, where they plan to transfer 60% of its naval forces. But despite the new policy of focusing on that part of the world, the U.S. would continue to put emphasis on the European partners, since European partners, including Croatia, occupy a very important position and remain in the focus of American interests. Secretary Mabus also said that the partnership between the two governments in the area of ​​defence was very strong, and pointed out involvement of Croatia in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan as well as in other peace support missions and operations as an evidence of competence of the Croatian Armed Forces and of the Croatian Government. He said that the contribution and participation of the CAF in ISAF mission in Afghanistan strongly contributed to the success of the mission.
As for the next NATO Summit and the enlargement process, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said he expected Croatia’s assistance to countries in the region which goal is Euro-Atlantic integrations.