Croatian President Zoran Milanović spoke today in Zagreb with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is on a working visit to Croatia.
The topics of the meeting held in the President's Office were the financial allocation for the defense and equipping of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, as well as the need for this allocation to provide greater defense capabilities, the situation in Ukraine and the possibilities of resolving and ending the war, as well as the security situation in Croatia's neighborhood, according to a brief statement from the President's Office.
Ahead of Rute's arrival in Croatia, President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Zoran Milanović stated that he was welcome in Croatia, but that he was not "a person who makes decisions and who disposes of money."
"When he speaks, it is not clear on whose behalf he is speaking, and he says a lot of things that I do not support at all," Milanović told reporters in Čakovec on Friday.
The NATO Secretary General was also received today by the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandroković.
In the context of changes in the global security environment, Jandroković and Rute agreed that continued investment and strengthening of European defense capacities, as well as individual defense industries, is needed, according to a press release from the office of the Speaker of the Parliament.
Jandroković and Rute also discussed the security situation in Southeast Europe, with the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament pointing to "the worrying potential for destabilization of this region and the importance of the role of NATO and the European Union in countering the influence of other international actors."
Jandroković said that Croatia is monitoring the current geostrategic and military situation and is improving its defense potential. He recalled that last year more than two percent of GDP was invested in the Croatian defense sector, and a third of that amount in its modernization, the statement added.
Jandroković said that Croatia will continue to increase defense spending to reach the level of five percent of GDP by 2035, in line with last year's decision at the NATO summit.
Regarding Ukraine, Jandroković reiterated Croatia's strong political, economic, financial and military support for that country.
The NATO Secretary General arrived on a working visit to Croatia as part of his tour of member states.
He and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković toured the "Colonel Marko Živković" barracks in Pleso, where he viewed Rafale aircraft, Baryaktar unmanned aerial vehicles, and UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, and then spoke with the Croatian Prime Minister in the government and met with representatives of the Croatian defense industry.
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