ZAGREB, June 14, 2018 – Croatia is committed to solidarity inside NATO and to sharing the burden inside the alliance, which is why it will raise its investment in the defence sector, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said in Brussels on Thursday after her talks with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The Croatian president said that the country had made a turnaround and started increasing investments in its defence. I say investments rather than costs, as this is about investments in our security and the security of our neighbourhood and NATO, she added.
Grabar-Kitarović and Stoltenberg discussed preparations for NATO’s upcoming summit meeting in July and the topic of the alliance’s member-states raising their defence allocations from their budgets. They also talked about the state of affairs in southeast Europe, as well as NATO’s role in tackling the challenges stemming from illegal migrations.
She explained that the Croatian government is considering a few projections for higher defence investments and as soon as it is adopted by the government, the Croatian national plan on higher defence costs will be put forward to NATO.
In her comment on the developments in Croatia’s southeast neighbourhood, she underscored that it is very important how Croatia deals with the influence of third countries or third groups outside the region “that would like to determine the processes, including the political future of our neighbouring countries.” I firmly believe that it is the right of every country to decide on their own paths, Grabar-Kitarović said.
She welcomed the agreement between the governments in Skopje and Athens on the official name for Macedonia which will pave the way for that country’s accession to NATO.
The Croatian president expressed her support to the activation of NATO’s Membership Action Plan for Membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As regards the forthcoming NATO summit meeting on 11-12 July in Brussels, she said she expected that event to reinforce the bonds between both sides of the Atlantic.
Stoltenberg said he appreciated Croatia’s contribution to NATO missions such as those in Lithuania and Poland, Afghanistan and Kosovo, and he also commended Croatia’s contribution to southeast Europe. The NATO Secretary-General also welcomed the agreement between the Greek and Macedonian governments.
