CROATIA LOBBIES FOR BIH ENTRY INTO NATO

With the visit of the Defense Minister of Croatia to the Defense Ministry of BiH, yesterday an Agreement on Cooperation in the field of defense of the two countries was signed.

The document, which defines principles and methods of cooperation, was signed in the name of the Croatian government and the Council of Ministers of BiH by Ministers of Defense Ante Kotromanovic and Muhamed Ibrahimovic.

Croatia's support

"This cooperation is founded on the basis of earlier signed Memoranda on Understanding. Cooperation has shown to be effective in the past, and we want to continue and improve it. It is very important to us to have the support of Croatia and the Croatian Ministry of Defense,
which is already a NATO member state, and we believe that they will help us in our efforts to move closer to Euro-Atlantic integration and of course NATO," Minister Ibrahimovic said.

The Republic of Croatia's experiences in the past should be of great use to our country, Ibrahimovic believes, adding that the signing of the defense cooperation document will define certain principles and methods of working together, as well as be a good basis for expansion
to other fields.

Croatian Defense Minister Ante Kotromanovic emphasized in the first place the friendly relations of the two countries, and the Croatian commitment to strong support of the Euro-Atlantic path for our country.

Expectations from Chicago summit

"We will continue to lobby vigorously for BiH to become a NATO member state as soon as possible," Minister Kotromanovic said, underlining that it is in the common interest of the two countries.

He also said that the Defense Ministries of BiH and Croatia have no open issues,
noting the importance of strengthening regional defense cooperation for economic development and all-around progress.

He said that the experiences of Croatia on this path are of great importance for BiH's Euro-Atlantic path.

The visit of the Croatian delegation with Minister Kotromanovic was an opportunity to exchange views on bilateral cooperation, NATO integration processes, and participation in operations supporting peace, including expectations from the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.

The two interlocutors agreed on the view that current cooperation in the field of defense policies should improve, including the use of common facilities, as a goal that NATO promotes.

Both sides said that the agreement that was signed opens new possibilities in this area, and that the quality of future cooperation would be on an even higher level.