Minister Bozinovic met German Minister de Maizièr

During the meeting very intense and successful bilateral cooperation between the two countries has been confirmed. Minister de Maizier said that Croatia has always had strong support on its path to full membership in NATO and the EU, congratulating Minister Bozinovic and Government on the recent announcement of the completion of negotiations. He also said that the Republic of Croatia with its intense integration into NATO and NATO bodies can be used as an example for other countries, particularly in the region. “We are pleased that we can confirm the current highly successful collaboration of members of our armed forces in international peacekeeping missions, particularly in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, where we were repeatedly assured of the competence and professionalism of Croatian soldiers”, Minister de Maizier said.

Minister of Defence Davor Bozinovic thanked his German counterpart for the generous and continued support on Croatia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, and also expressed satisfaction with the cooperation of members of the armed forces of the two countries in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, in the zone of responsibility of the Regional Command North (RC North) where the majority of the members of the Croatian contingent is deployed and where the leading nation is Germany. Speaking about further involvement in the ISAF mission, Minister Bozinovic stressed that Croatia intends to continue with the contribution to education and training of Afghan forces in stabilizing Afghanistan and to the process of taking responsibility for their own safety. “Croatia has assumed the responsibility of leading nation in the School of Military Police in Kabul, and apart from the current involvement of Croatian and Slovenian Armed Forces, we expect this initiative to be joined by other member countries of the region”, Bozinovic said. He added that so far in the School of Military Police in Kabul training passed about 70 future instructors, and it is expected that by the end of the year that the individual and joint military and police training will pass about 900 members of the Afghan National Army.

The ministers also discussed the involvement in the EU battle groups, as well as about the joint contribution to security and defence policy of the EU, where, in the second half of 2012, Croatia will be involved in the activities of the EU Battle Group under German command, with about 250 members of the Croatian Armed Forces. In this context, Bozinovic said that all necessary preparations for future involvement, including equipping and training have been conducted as planned. The ministers also discussed cooperation in the EU operation Atalanta, and the possibilities for embarking of Croatian officers on German ships that would be involved in the operation in the future.

As for the further cooperation in the field of education it was pointed out that Croatia will continue to use high-quality offers of German side regarding training for MOD members in the Bundeswehr and at the German War College, but also will host members of the German Armed Forces at the highest levels of the military education at the Croatian Military Academy. The cooperation in the field of project management, where there is interest of Croatian side for the German experience in the specific field of IT management and other projects was also agreed.

They also talked about intensifying cooperation on military-technical field, and about the possibilities of using certain parts of military equipment and weapons, and a meeting was arranged in the coming period at the expert level where they can discuss concrete possibilities of cooperation.

Minister Bozinovic during today’s visit to the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany laid a wreath at the monument to fallen German soldiers killed in service since the establishment of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), respectively since 1955.

With Minister Bozinovic in the MOD delegation were also Deputy Chief of General Staff for Plans and Resources Lieutenant General Slavko Baric and the Commander of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence Brigadier General Drazen Scuri.