Minister Anušić Meets with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium at the Ministry of Defence

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Ivan Anušić met on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Republic of Croatia, William De Baets.

They focused on strengthening defence cooperation, increasing defence spending, launching modernisation projects, and addressing current security challenges.

Minister Anušić and Ambassador De Baets agreed that the Republic of Croatia and the Kingdom of Belgium, both members of the European Union and NATO, are partner countries sharing friendly relations based on mutual respect and understanding.

Belgium and Croatia contribute to regional and global security through their joint participation in NATO’s KFOR mission and the NATO and Forward Land Forces (FLF) Battle Group in Lithuania, as well as in the European Union operations EUNAVFOR Atalanta and EUNAVFOR Med Irini.

Minister Anušić briefed the Belgian Ambassador on the Basic Military Training Project and expressed satisfaction with the excellent response from young recruits. “The basic military training, which we are reintroducing after 17 years, will commence next Monday in the barracks in Knin, Slunj, and Požega. We have a great turnout, with 82 women voluntarily applying,” Minister Anušić stated.

On this occasion, Minister Anušić also presented to Ambassador De Baets the ongoing modernisation projects of the Croatian Armed Forces.

Furthermore, the minister emphasised that Croatia is actively working on equipping and modernising all branches of its armed forces. “In 2025, we reached NATO’s target of 2.10% of GDP for defence spending, while nearly 34% of our defence expenditure is allocated to equipment and modernisation,” Minister Anušić said. He added that investments are being made evenly across all three branches – the Croatian Army, Croatian Air Force, and Croatian Navy.

In the context of modernisation, the minister highlighted that the Croatian defence industry is involved in the equipping projects of the Croatian Armed Forces.

Minister Anušić and Ambassador De Baets exchanged views on the current global security situation, recent developments in the Middle East, and the war in Ukraine.

They concluded that investing in defence capabilities is imperative, especially given the current global security environment.