The biggest threats are dictatorships, asymmetric threats, hybrid threats, lack of cyber security and cyber attacks, Grlić Radman said in Halifax, where he was attending the International Security Forum.
He identified as threats countries “which are counting on the establishment of a new order or geopolitical repositioning and which have a negative agenda in terms of action and manage migrations negatively.”
The International Security Forum in Halifax discussed current global security issues. The Forum is dedicated to strengthening strategic cooperation between democratic countries and it brought together a large number of state and military officials, business people and think-tanks.
It was organised as six thematic plenary discussions focusing on current global political issues, primarily COVID-19, climate change, globalisation, China’s ascent, new security architecture and asymmetric threats.
Grlić Radman attended the panel dedicated to China, and in that context said that the EU has to assert itself. “We cannot just condemn China’s presence if we have not shown sufficient strength in terms of what we have to offer and stronger presence,” he said, mentioning in that context the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s being the first to start supplying face masks.
He said that China’s economic influence was strong in the Western Balkans, a region that had been neglected lately.
As a Western Balkans neighbour, Croatia definitely feels China’s strong presence and influence there and can speak about it. The knowledge of the nature of China’s influence in the Western Balkans and in other parts of the world is possibly not sufficient, he said.
He warned in that context about the need for greater involvement of both NATO and the EU in the Western Balkans, where, he said, the situation had become destabilising.
On the margins of the Halifax International Security Forum, the Croatian minister met, among others, the international community’s High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt.
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