ZAGREB, April 7, 2020 – Croatia reacted on time to the coronavirus pandemic and the Croatian army has been contributing significantly to the fight against that disease, Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said at a video conference of EU defence ministers, calling for the continuation of cooperation during the current crisis.
The video conference of EU defence ministers was chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josip Borrell and it was dedicated to the defence sector’s contribution in dealing with the pandemic, Croatia’s defence ministry said in a press release.
The ministers exchanged their experience at the national level regarding the army’s support to civil institutions, underscoring that further cooperation and solidarity between EU member states was necessary.
All our resources are directed at the fight against the pandemic, Krstičević underscored.
“We began implementing measures for the health, security, education and economic sectors at a very early stage of the emergence of COVID-19,” Krstičević said, adding that Croatian troops had erected a completely autonomous camp which can cater for 220 patients in record time.
Referring to the recent disastrous earthquake that struck Zagreb, Krstičević said that the army helped there too.
He underscored the need for further cooperation and solidarity between EU member states as well as for timely and coordinated measures to prevent the further escalation of the pandemic.
As a good example of cooperation Krstičević pointed at strategic transport, organised by the government to fly Croatian and German medical teams to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Lithuania and the joint repatriation of Croatian, Albanian, Montenegrin and North Macedonian troops from Afghanistan.
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