ZAGREB, January 19, 2018 – Croatia’s Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, who is visiting the United States, met on Thursday with Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, which in the future will participate more actively in the training of Croatian specialists in cyber security and other security threats such as terrorism and organised crime.
Underlining the scope and complexity of modern security threats, Božinović noted that they were too great a challenge to be faced by any country on its own and that cooperation with partner countries like the U.S., was important in dealing with them.
“Croatia recognises the great potential of a closer cooperation with the FBI, and the U.S. partners consider increasingly important their cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of the Interior, as evidenced by the programme of this visit,” Božinović told reporters in Washington after meeting with Wray.
As for cyber security, the two officials underlined the need to develop national capacity and international cooperation. Aware of this, the Croatian ministry has decided to raise its cyber security service to a higher organisational level and enhance its capacity.
Apart from training, underlined at the talks was also the importance of information exchange, analysis and use of modern information technologies in the future cooperation with the U.S.
One of the members of the delegation accompanying Božinović during the visit to the U.S. was Antonio Gerovac, the head of the national police office for the prevention of corruption and organised crime (PNUSKOK).
Ministry of the Interior State Secretary Terezija Gras said the meeting between Božinović and Wray was an important signal that the strategic partnership between Croatia and the U.S. had been growing stronger.
“Croatia has been making great efforts to raise security standards that are of crucial importance for the protection of citizens. After introducing the Schengen Information System, it has significantly enhanced its capacity for the exchange of information with other EU countries on criminal cases and their perpetrators. Croatia is currently working on defining a legislative framework and a system for the exchange of information on passengers in air transport and the identification of data at EU level, an area in which it wants to cooperate more closely with the U.S., which is an important criterion for Croatia’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Programme,” said Gras.
