ZAGREB, April 29, 2018 - After six years of decline and stagnation, Croatia increased the defence budget for two years in a row as it believes that investing in defence represents investing in security, prosperity and economic development, and that it makes the country a more reliable partner and ally in the European Union, NATO and the UN, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said.
"Croatia has a strong tradition of a defence army, the victorious army in the Homeland War, which obliges us to carry out a thorough and careful modernisation," he said at the 3rd International Security Conference.
The conference on Croatia's national security and the EU's foreign and security policy was organised by the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Croatian Statehood Foundation.
Plenković said Croatia's defence budget was 3.9 billion kuna in 2016, 4.3 billion kuna in 2017 and 4.8 billion kuna in 2018 (1.31% of GDP), adding that the defence industry was a generator of growth and promoter of top quality Croatian product, 98% of which is exported.
"We are heading for the 2% target, but systematically and efficiently, so that our compatibility and interoperability with other armed forces is visible and sustainable," he said.
"This industry is an important generator of Croatian exports and we want to invest in this segment, strengthening homeland and national security and contributing to the protection of vital national interests, the integrity of the state territory and the security of all our people."
Plenković described as strategic the decision to buy fighter jets, saying it would give a new dimension to Croatia's role in the security of Southeast Europe and as a member of NATO and the EU.
Speaking of current transnational challenges such as terrorism, wars, migration, instability in Southeast Europe and the use of chemical weapons, he said Croatia's goal was to establish a pro-active and coordinated approach by all state institutions so as to reduce society's vulnerability and bring the concept of homeland security to life.
"The national security strategy we adopted creates the prerequisites for doing that," Plenković said, adding that Croatia was intensively working on the demining of its entire territory and establishing a uniform and effective crisis and natural disaster response system. He said Croatia's system included risk analysis and response preparation, thereby contributing on the European level and within the international organisations of which it is a member.
We are developing the protection of the national and the European structure, showing we are a reliable partner that fulfils its obligations for its own security and the security of our partners, Plenković added.
He said membership of the Schengen Area would be a key step in Croatia's European policy, "a political and strategic goal which significantly changes Croatia's importance and role in the region as well as in the European Union." "I believe that over the past 18 months we have invested outstanding efforts in meeting all the technical requirements for membership. Given that Croatia has one of the longest borders, we have a responsible role in protecting the EU's external border and Croatia's external border," said Plenković.
"It remains our ambition and goal to meet all the requirements by the end of 2019, during the term of the incumbent European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker, and I believe we will succeed so that the political decision on membership is made ahead of Croatia's chairmanship of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2020."
Plenković went on to say that Croatia had the image of a reliable country which would ensure the security of the EU's external borders and that, in doing so, it would help its southeast European neighbours draw closer to EU and NATO membership. "Croatia wants stability in Southeast Europe. We believe that's very important. Our partners expect advice from us and an analysis of the situation in Croatia's neighbourhood. In that respect, we will help the reform efforts of all our neighbours, which will make progress in line with their pace and meeting of criteria," he added.
Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said Croatia saw its security as "indivisible" from European security. "The interdependence of internal and external security, national and regional, European and global, is big and strong... In 2015, the refugee crisis showed that the security challenges and risks that it generated can't be dealt with efficiently only at national level."
Today that is evident in Syria, he said, adding that the particular interests of global and regional stakeholders affected the security of the EU and its member states. "Regional instabilities exist in the wide belt of states around the EU, from Ukraine to the Middle East and North Africa, and they all generate security risks for the EU and, in some aspects, notably for Southeast Europe and therefore Croatia." "That's why Croatia is strongly committed to strengthening stability and security in Southeast Europe, notably in its neighbours," said Krstičević.
He said the main interests in the National Security Strategy were the security of citizens, territorial integrity and sovereignty; citizens' well-being and prosperity; the economy, national identity and international reputation; and the equality, sovereignty and survival of the Croat people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We in Germany and the European People's Party support your political goal, Croatia's accession to the Schengen Area, said David McAllister, chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee and vice president of the EPP.
