Minister Kotromanovic met members of the Czech Defence Committee

Minister Kotromanovic thanked the Czech senators on visit to the Defence Ministry, stressing that the effect and role of the defence committee in the oversight of the armed forces was of the utmost importance to both countries. “As a former member of this committee I know what your responsibilities are, and now as Minister of Defence, I encourage members of our Committee to get involved in the most important defence issues, such as the adoption of important documents in the field of defence”, Minister Kotromanović said. The minister pointed out that the two friendly countries have long standing good bilateral defence cooperation, which supports the recent joint initiative of helicopter training in Zemunik Air Force Base. The minister also thanked for the long-standing support of the Czech Republic to Croatia on its path to the EU.

Head of the Czech delegation and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, Senator Josef Regec thanked on behalf of the Committee members at the reception, adding that during his visit to the Croatian Parliament he had the opportunity to share many experiences with regard to national defence. The discussion on the meeting was also on NATO “Smart Defence Concept” – on the possibility of pooling defence resources in terms of reduced defence budgets, for which all agreed that it would be one of the topics to be considered further at the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago (USA) in May.

They also discussed cooperation within the Višegrad initiative, as well as future involvement in the NATO ISAF operation in Afghanistan.

Members of the Czech Senate were later also received by the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pušić.