Minister Kotromanović received high Iraqi military delegation

During the meeting, Minister Kotromanović stressed that Croatia supports the activities of the international community in establishing peace, stability and democracy in Iraq and stressed Croatia’s commitment to long-term partnership with Iraq and a desire to continue cooperation with the Iraqi Government in all areas of mutual interest.

Minister Kotromanović also said that apart from the traditional economic cooperation ongoing for several decades now, cooperation in the future may develop in the field of military industry, adding that the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Defence value Iraqi interest for the Croatian military industry products .

The minister expressed hope that the Republic of Iraq would come in a long period of peace and that the two countries would cooperate more in the future, and while addressing the General Shaghati, the Minister added that he hoped the two of them would help to deepen economic cooperation.

General Talib Shaghati commented on the situation in his country and stressed the fight against terrorism as the biggest current challenge for Iraq. He stressed that they gained a great experience in this fight, and that they did more than 1000 anti-terrorist operations.

General Shaghati cited the fact that since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime, in the country were left 4000 tanks, 4500 guns, 700 combat aircraft and helicopters. Also, after the fall of the Saddam regime on Iraq’s roads remained around 12 million rifles, which significantly influenced the creation of paramilitary and terrorist groups.

General Shaghati expressed interest in cooperation between the two countries in military training, and also invited the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian military industry to participate in the modernization of the Iraqi Armed forces.

At the end it was suggested to sign a protocol on cooperation in defence and security between the two countries on the next meeting.

The previous military cooperation between Croatia and the Republic of Iraq, among other things, included the training of six members of the Iraqi security forces in 2009 in the Course for training guides and service dogs for explosive detection in “Captain K. Ivošević” Training Centre in Dugo Selo. Also, in accordance with the Decision of the Government, six service dogs for explosive detection were donated in 2009. The total value of trained dogs, equipment and transportation is about 765 000 kunas. Also, in the framework of development assistance of Croatia, cooperation in various areas has been established: aid to Iraqi children, training of Iraqi medical professionals, training of Iraqi diplomats, etc.