Minister Bozinovic meets Slovak Minister Galko

Minister Bozinovic expressed his satisfaction with visiting of Slovakian Defence Minister pointing out that today’s visit was a continuation of good relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Slovak Republic and successful contacts between the armed forces of the two countries. “Our soldiers, inter alia, cooperate within the framework of NATO and international peacekeeping missions, which were discussed at the meeting”, said Minister Bozinovic. Also, he said they discussed the international ISAF operation, the security situation in Afghanistan and the efforts of the Croatian and Slovakian soldiers to meet our ultimate goal, which was handing responsibility for the security situation in Afghanistan to local security forces as soon as possible and in accordance with the plans. “We talked about further bilateral defence cooperation and on cooperation in defence industry between the two countries where there are possibilities of further cooperation”, said Minister Bozinovic adding that Slovakia has a well-developed military industry, while the Croatian military industry and armament has been also increasing. Minister Bozinovic thanked at the end on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, and also on behalf of the Government, Slovak Minister and Slovak political leaders for their generous support they gave to Croatia on its path to NATO, as well as for the support given to Croatia on its path towards EU membership.

Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic L’ubomir Galko said that today’s meeting was a continuation of previous successful relationships between the two countries. “Slovakia is still giving unreserved support to Croatian accession to the EU, as it did in the case of Croatian accession to NATO. By Croatian accession, the EU will get on the quality and safety of its space”, said Minister Galko. He also said that during a conversation he informed the Croatian counterpart about further involvement of the Slovak Armed Forces in the UNFICYP mission in Cyprus, where Croatia also has its officers. They also discussed the defence budgets, as well as the renewal of aircraft fleets of the two countries.

When asked to comment on the statement by the Slovak Minister of Finance that the supersonic jets were too expensive and that they should landed, Slovak Minister of Defence L’ubomir Galko said that the Slovak Minister of Finance was thinking about alternatives and possibilities for resolving the issue of procurement of new supersonic aircraft. “It’s definitely a question of budget and available funds. We have created a new draft strategy document”, said Slovak Defence Minister and added that in his opinion, they should keep the supersonic aircraft, but ultimately it would be the decision of the Government and Parliament of the Slovak Republic. He also pointed out that in the case of a lack of money, we should consider the division of responsibility and the possibility of a joint air surveillance system with neighbouring countries.

During his official visit to Croatia Minister Galko will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Gordan Jandrokovic and Deputy Parliament Speaker Ivan Jarnjak.