ZAGREB, July 13, 2018 – U.S. Defence State Secretary James Mattis, who was received by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Zagreb on Thursday evening, described Croatia as a proven ally of the United States, and promised Washington’s assistance for the modernisation of the Croatian army.
Mattis expressed satisfaction with excellent friendly relations between his country and Croatia, the office of the Croatian government stated in a press release.
The U.S. State Secretary commended the Croatian leadership for having decided to obtain new military equipment. He was quoted as saying that he was glad to be again in a country that is a proven American ally with respectable armed forces.
Mattis arrived in Zagreb from Brussels where he attended a NATO summit meeting.
The Croatian capital will on Friday host a ministerial meeting of the U.S.-Adriatic Charter, an association formed by Albania, Croatia, Macedonia and United States for the purpose of aiding their attempts to join NATO. The Charter was signed on 2 May 2003 in Tirana. In 2008, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro joined the association.
Croatia and Albania were admitted to NATO in 2009.
