The Defence Minister and the Secretary General discussed the security situation along the Alliance’s borders, the current topics and the Alliance’s short and long-term adaptation to the security challenges, as well as the implementation of the conclusions from the Wales Summit.
Minister Kotromanovi\u0107\u00a0 expressed satisfaction over hosting NATO Secretary General in Croatia at mid-point between two summits (the Wales Summit and the 2016 Summit to be held in Warsaw).<\/p>\n
\u201cI am taking this opportunity to express appreciation to you, Your Excellency,\u00a0 for your personal contribution and the new energy displayed in managing the Alliance. Croatia’s membership in NATO is the cornerstone of our defence and security, hence the importance attached to our NATO-related activities\u201c,\u00a0 stated the Minister.<\/p>\n
The Minister briefed the Secretary General on the implementation of the defence investment pledge, a commitment taken by NATO members at the Wales Summit. \u201cThe defence investment pledge is a major commitment from the Wales Summit, underlying other adaptation measures. The Republic of Croatia has decided to halt the defence budget decline, and the decision is now being implemented; Our intention is to ensure the defence budget follows the growth of the GDP.\u00a0 The focus will remain on the management of available resources, with the emphasis on increased allocations for equipping, modernisation and upgrade of living conditions of the members of the Armed Forces.
And the most important \u2013 we will maintain and further develop all capabilities of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence, the Navy and the Army\u201c, stated the Minister.<\/p>\n
The Minister pledged the support by the Republic of Croatia to NATO’s enlargement, consistently with the Open Door Policy.
NATO Secretary General\u00a0 Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the news on halted defence budget decline, as well as the investments into equipment and modernisation of the Croatian Armed Forces. Discussing the current security situation in southeast Europe, Secretary General praised the progress achieved by aspirant countries, particularly Montenegro, which expects NATO’s decision on invitation for membership by the end of the current year. <\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cNATO has to communicate its presence to the candidate countries through the instruments of the Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative and continued military training and exercises programmes\u201c, concluded Secretary General
NATO Secretary General held talks with the Croatian Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovi\u0107 and the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Josip Leko, and delivered a keynote speech at the annual diplomatic \u201cCroatia Forum\u201c titled \u201cNew Development Policy \u2013 Towards Partnership and a Common Vision\u201d, held in Dubrovnik\u00a0 9-11 July, where he met with the President of the Republic, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovi\u0107 and the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Vesna Pusi\u0107.<\/p>\n[nggallery id=1785]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Croatian Defence Minister, Ante Kotromanovi\u0107 on 9 July 2015 held a meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg during his official visit to the Republic of Croatia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36336,"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-9862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n