Minister Krstičević attends the meeting of NATO defence ministers

Ministar Krstičević extended congratulations to the Secretary Mattis on his appointment, and expressed the hope in a prospective formal bilateral meeting and communication with the Secretary of Defense of the U.S., the Croatian strategic partner in the domain of defence and security. The U.S. Secretary of Defense expressed his respect for the Croatian Armed Forces, said the Croatian Minister.

The Secretary of Defense Mattis stated that the United States would fulfill its commitments, but that other member nations should provide approportionate share  to the collective defence if they wanted the US to maintain its own commitment in NATO  “The United States will meet its responsibilities but other nations need to show support for our common defence. Americans cannot care more for your children’s future security than you do“.

The defence ministers discussed the importance of the transatlantic bond underpinning NATO, whose importance is prominent under the current complex security circumstances which no country can tackle itself. A strong NATO is good for Europe and North America, said NATO Secretary General, who briefed the ministers on the main efforts towards NATO’s adaptation in response to new security threats

During the discussion on the joint approach to the problems coming from the south, while praising NATO’s contnribution to the fight against terrorism was praised, it needs to do more.  The member nations agreed on setting up a NATO Hub for South, at the Joint Force Command Naples, to respond more efficiently to the challenges to the south of the Alliance, including terrorism.

At the working dinner, attended by the EU High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogheriniter, the ministers reviewed NATO- the EU relations and highlighted the need for approportionate defence spending. NATO Secretary General underlined that the cuts in defence spending were reversed after an extended period of time. SG also cited the recent data on European member nations and Canada in 2016 increased their defence spending to 3.8% GDP (equivalent to 10 billion USD).

Minister Krstičević contributed to the discussion on the EU –NATO co-operation by emphasising its importance for the security and stability of southeast Europe, which is Croatia’s neighbourhood. The Minister underlined that Croatia too managed to reverse the negative trend and increase the defence budget in the current year by 9% compared to 2016 thus proving its readiness to meet the commitments from the Wales Summit.

On the margins of the meeting the Croatian Minister held a series of bilateral meetings with the Defence Minister of the Czech Republic Martin Stropnicky, the Defence Minister of Romania Beniamin Leş, the Defence Minister of Poland Antoni Macierewicz and the Defence Minister of Slovakia Peter Gajdoš.

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