Supporting Military Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe
Zagreb – Gen. Knud Bartels, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, conducted on 28-30 April an official visit to Croatia, aimed at reaffirming the solid ties between NATO and its close Ally, and promoting a regional approach to Smart Defence and the Connected Forces Initiative in South-Eastern Europe.
From the left to the right: Gen. Knud Bartels, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, with Lt Gen. Drago Lovrić, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.
During talks with Lt Gen. Drago Lovrić, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, Gen. Bartels expressed his appreciation for Croatia’s contribution to NATO operations. “With roughly 200 personnel deployed in Afghanistan, your country provides the Alliance with a good support to the current ISAF operation. Your continued presence in Kosovo also demonstrates strong commitment to KFOR’s mission,” said Gen. Bartels.
The meeting with Mr. Ante Kotromanović, Croatian Minister of Defence, represented an opportunity to stress the importance of military cooperation in South-Eastern Europe in order to consolidate security in the region. On this note, the Chairman said: “Regional military cooperation is an important dimension of Smart Defence in terms of procurement, burden sharing and industrial shares. I think there is a lot of potential in South-Eastern Europe. Therefore I am very pleased to acknowledge that Croatia is implementing multinational solutions, and I am committed to support further Croatian initiatives in this field.”
Gen. Bartels also discussed issues of regional security and military cooperation with the President of the Republic of Croatia and commander-in-Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces, Mr. Ivo Josipović. “Security of our territories and population is crucial for us and is NATO’s primary objective; therefore it is essential for Allies to continue to invest in defence and security,” stressed Gen. Bartels.
Gen. Knud Bartels delivering a lecture on Smart Defence and Connected Forces Initiative at Croatian Defence Academy in Zagreb.
Speaking to Croatian and other regional students at the Croatian Defence Academy in Zagreb, he highlighted the key role the Connected Forces Initiative will assume after 2014, when NATO will shift its emphasis from operational engagement to operational preparedness. “In this new context, keeping national forces interconnected through expanded education and training, increased exercises and better use of technology will help Allies to maintain readiness and combat effectiveness.”
“That said,” the Chairman concluded, “it will be crucial in the coming years to concentrate resources into meaningful and demanding collective training in the full spectrum of operations. And we have to train both our military forces and our new NATO Command Structure more intensively than in the past to maintain our skills and to be prepared to tackle future threats.”
Gen. Bartels and Lt Gen. Lovrić - together with all the other NATO Chiefs of Defence - will meet again on 14-15 May at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels for the 169th Military Committee meeting in Chiefs of Defence session.