Minister of Defence Branko Vukelic welcomed athletes to the MOD and Armed Forces, stressing that such cooperation with the Croatian Olympic Committee could not be realized without the full support of the Government and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. He noted that these prominent athletes would contribute to the reputation of the Croatian Armed Forces and MOD, as well as to Croatia. “Make yourself at home, since this is your home”, Minister Vukelic concluded, wishing them much success and victories.
Congratulating the athletes, Chief of General Staff General Lucic pointed out that the value of sport that was that through sport, one achieved maximum personal achievements. “These achievements are worthy for every individual and one is fighting for them. But through his personal struggle one represents its land, people, and in this case these young men will represent the Ministry of Defence and Croatian Armed Forces” General Lucic said, noting that their knowledge and skills would be useful for the Armed Forces.
Olympic Committee President Zlatko Matesa said that this event was historic for the Croatian sport. “These young people represent the top of Croatian sport in various disciplines, and have something to give to the CAF”, Matesa said, adding that he was confident that this cooperation would continue to the mutual satisfaction.
“I believe that we will be a great stimulus for the Croatian Armed Forces and that we will all be honoured”, Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic said, that thanked the MOD and CAF on behalf of the athletes on the opportunities they offered.
Recruitment of athletes in the active military service was the result of Agreement on cooperation, promotion and development of sports in Croatia between the MOD and the Croatian Olympic Committee, which was signed on 3 September 2010 in the MOD, and which, inter alia, foresees the possibility of employing top athletes in the Defence Ministry and Armed Forces.<\/p>\n[nggallery id=353]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Defence Branko Vukelic handed out today, December 22, at the Croatian Military Academy “Petar Zrinski” contracts of active duty service in the Croatian Armed Forces to 19 top sportsmen and sportswomen. The ceremony was also attended by Chief of General Staff General Josip Lucic, President of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Zlatko Matesa, MOD State Secretary Zeljko Gorsic, director of the Croatian Military Academy Major General Mirko Sundov and other MOD and CAF officials. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n